The other day I had a conversation with an old friend about our growing fears of edging out of our comfort zone, especially when it concerns our professional lives. Here’s what he said:

I’m sitting here in Hong Kong wondering what the next step will be, but then I realized the adversity I’d need just to make it there and it kind of reminded me of my childhood when all these aspirations didn’t seem so close, but still felt so refreshing anyway.

It’s true. When we were in high school, it seemed like anything was possible. We weren’t afraid to move away from our homes. None of us were tied down by serious relationships or commitments. We could go anywhere. We would go anywhere.

And our careers? What careers? We weren’t afraid to switch our interests from one field to another. We relished change, and the sort of snap decisions like, “I’ve decided today I’m going to be a fireman,” came naturally and at the blink of an eye.

Perhaps most importantly, we hadn’t really known what rejection and failure was like. We were used to getting our way. Things were easy. It was easy to pass a class, easy to ace a test, and easy to stand out.

In short, life was friggin’ sweet.

On the surface, not a lot changes as you enter your twenties.

The important things, like dreams and aspirations are still there. You can still see the finish line ahead. It hasn’t disappeared. But the difference is, whereas the route was clear before, now it’s beginning to fill with hurdles. There are financial hurdles, relationship hurdles, big fussy boss hurdles, and grocery hurdles.

At least for me, it’s not the jumping-over-the-hurdles which is cause for concern. It’s what happens if I fuck up. The fear of pain that ultimately accompanies a failure is surprisingly real and acute.

And so now, as we get older, we’re less driven by our dreams and aspirations, and we begin to be swayed by our desire for comfort and safety.

Perhaps the lesson here is that we should always be aware of this desire to maintain the status quo. We should be aware, and we should fight it.

Be vigilant! Don’t settle! What better time to search for change: to change homes, change friends, change careers, change fields, than now? If it’s hard in your twenties to change, I can’t imagine it being much easier in your thirties or (god forbid) forties.

Clip from Dead Like Me
Bullshit camaraderie leads to bullshit pressure…which builds to a moment of paralyzing fear