Anyone who knows me knows I do not like to sit still for long. When working at my desk, I take frequent breaks to get up and stretch. This improves my stamina and helps me keep my focus. Not to say that I can't relax – I can sit on a beach for hours. But put me in a long meeting or on a long airplane flight, and I quickly become restless and uncomfortable.
Last summer, I found myself on the nine-hour red-eye flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi. Not too far into the trip, I realized I had to do something or I'd have severe sciatica for days. Since this was the start of a long-planned vacation, an African photo safari, I wanted to arrive in good shape and in good spirits.
Comfort Was Only 2 Minutes Away
My backpack, stuffed in the overhead bin, held what I perceived to be a solution, an inflatable seat cushion I had packed for the long jeep rides we'd be taking through Tanzania and Kenya. I asked my husband Tom to help me pull the cushion out of my pack.
Tom's response to my request was textbook husband-speak:
"Are you sure you want to pull that cushion out of your pack?"
While his question might have sounded reasonable to a stranger, thirteen years of marriage allowed me to quickly translate:
"Now that we're seated with our drinks, magazines and newspapers, are you sure you want me to get up, haul your pack out of the overhead, take everything out of it and dig out the deflated cushion stashed in the very bottom, just so you can see if it will make you more comfortable? And are you sure you want me to put down my work, unbuckle my seatbelt, stand up and go to all that trouble, only to have to get up again, as soon as I've settled back in, and repeat the process to repack the cushion and put it away?"
My response was an unqualified, "Yes! I'm not sure if it will work, but it's worth a try. The two minutes it will take us to do this is a great trade-off for nine hours of comfort."
Tom grudgingly agreed, and we retrieved and unpacked the bag I had so meticulously packed just hours before.
Here's how simple making myself comfortable turned out to be:
1. Move tray table and stand up – 5 seconds
2. Pull down pack – 15 seconds
3. Open pack – 10 seconds
4. Dig to absolute, very bottom and retrieve cushion – 20 seconds
5. Inflate cushion – 20 seconds
6. Repack everything – 35 seconds
7. Return pack to overhead – 10 seconds
8. Sit back down – 5 seconds
Total time invested – 120 seconds, or 2 minutes, for 9 hours of comfort. The entire process required much less time than Tom took to ask me why I really needed to do this and explain why it wouldn't work without saying that he didn't feel like getting up.
Change Is Simple – Not Changing Is What Is Hard
My 2-minute investment paid off with 9 hours of comfort. Anyone, including yourself, can apply my cushion experience to living their career dreams. All you have to do is be willing to invest your time and energy today to ensure your comfort tomorrow.
Avoid spending any amount of time coming up with reasons why you can't, won't or shouldn't do something. JUST DO IT. Whether a change is large or small – a simple step toward comfort (like getting my seat cushion) or a major shift in your career – that change is often just 2 minutes away.
Are you doing today what you need to do to invest in your future career comfort? Or have you stopped yourself from investing time, energy or money because you've convinced yourself it won't work or it will be too much trouble?
Are you resisting a change that is so simple yet comes with rewards that can be so great? The timid mice in the book Who Moved My Cheese illustrate this principle. They starved rather than venture out in search of food. The few who were willing to invest energy and effort changed their futures. These mice didn't have to make a huge change – all they had to do was step outside their usual path – and their reward was staying alive rather than starving.
Which mouse are you and which mouse do you want to be? Each day you have the ability to take simple steps that can change your career and ensure your future comfort. Skip a television show and read a book, go on a diet, start an exercise program, save some money or pull out your seat cushion.
Start with 2 Minutes
Making a change and taking action is not always comfortable. After all, even inflating a pillow takes some effort and an investment of lung power. The changes needed to enhance your career will certainly require more than 2 minutes. But why not start with at least 2? Before you know it, you'll be putting your time and energy into mastering new skills, overcoming your resistance to change and pumping up your courage to take a chance on yourself.
For a lifetime of career satisfaction and happiness, you can make a career change with no more discomfort, relatively speaking, than it takes to blow up an inflatable seat cushion.
This small investment of 2 minutes can change your life from a good one to a great one.
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