How my friend bugging his parents could lead him to success one day.
A few years ago, I used to hang out with this one friend who loved to play video games and would always bug his parents for a new computer because his old one couldn’t play the game well. He also tried to convince his parents to buy proper shelving and organization tools in his room so that he would have easy access to things and he could make his room look better. I originally thought my friend was just a really picky guy, but I realized that the mindset he had could give him so much more potential in life. Just imagine in 20 years, when he’s making money for himself, he could find all the problems he has in his life and be able to fix them. But what if he didn’t? Enter the field of complacency.
Complacency: a feeling of smug or uncritical satisfaction with oneself or one’s achievements.
This is a good definition, but I think it fails to cover the extent of what it truly is. A couch potato eating junk food all the time being happy with it could be considered as complacency.
Why complacency is bad
A few weeks ago, I was able to catch up with that friend and talk. One thing that he said that stuck out to me was that he was making $300 a week from a business he started recently. He realized he had a big problem with money because he couldn’t play or buy anything he wanted, so he tried to become self-sufficient and do those things himself. This was crazy to me because he was able to find a solution to a problem in his life that might not have been evident to him at the time.
In comparison, a lot of the people I talk to are couch potatoes and play video games all day. Sure, the video games is a similarity, but my friend has the intention of always improving his life, and I think you should too.
How complacency occurs
There are a lot of reasons why complacency could occur, but most of them are caused by the person being comfortable with their current situation, and this is actually a lot more common than I thought. I remember meeting a lot of people who have reached their goal (a new position or a certain salary) and are happy with themselves, and because of this, aren’t in the mode to grow as much as when they were pursuing the goal to get to the position. I was also at this position a few years ago. I had won a competition and was happy with what I had done. However, I started falling behind in school, I quit the clubs I was in and I didn’t actually do much with the time I had. On the other hand, a lot of my friends who were trying to learn new skills had become so much better at them and grew much faster than me. To summarize, complacency occurs when you are happy with your current self and where there are clear paths to grow in.
Being non-complacent vs being hyper-non-complacent
Sometimes you might just not be happy with your current state in life. Maybe you want to get a better job because your current one has been bugging you for years. Maybe you want to spend more time with your friends because you’re always away from them and you’re starting to distance more. The point is, I believe there is a difference between having a problem bug you for a bit before you try to fix it and actually looking for those problems in your life. Having you been sleeping well for these past few weeks? Are you maintaining a healthy lifestyle? These are all things that might not immediately bug us, but they are definitely problems that can be fixed and could potentially make your life much better. This is what I think the difference between just being non-complacent and hyper-non-complacent is. In the latter, you’re putting in the intention to actually look for these kinds of problems, even if they might not be evident to you.
The outcome
There are a several effects of being non-complacent and they can all have major impacts on your life.
- If you’re intentional about it on a daily basis, chances are you will be in a constant state of growth, which will allow you to be adaptable to a lot of situations and realize problems that you are having (and avoid them).
- Your bar for things may become much higher if you’re always growing and could give you new opportunities and interests (e.g. you may become interested in bodybuilding after finding the workouts are fun and you actually have a strong desire to get into shape).
- You’re going to feel really good that you’re making progress and growing in some way. It will probably keep you motivated to do things.
Takeaways
- Complacency is the state where you feel happy with your current state when there is a clear path for growth. If you are complacent, you might be avoiding doing certain things and be on a bad path.
- The difference between non-complacent and hyper-non-complacent is that you’re intentionally seeking out problems in your life and trying to grow from them, rather than letting them come come to you.
- Being non-complacent can help you grow a lot faster and make much more progress in life.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to check out some of the things I’ve done on my website