Live On the Edge - Think Deep

Live On the Edge

No, this article is not going to be about putting yourself in danger. It’s about embracing fear, about growing, about going out of your comfort zone because staying comfortable in one spot too long is akin to death. We must strive to live on the edge. We’ve got to embrace fear and grow by pushing ourselves to the edge of our comfort zone.

Have a mission in life and embrace it by constantly living on the edge. We are not fully satisfied until we are on such a mission, one that drives us to the point where we breathe it day in and day out and dream about it at night. You’ll find once you do this, your whole world will slowly begin to correspond to your wishes. Everything will fall into place because that was what you were built to do. We are goal achievement machines. Humans alone have been blessed with this gift.

We cannot however achieve our goals overnight. Therefore, it’s prudent to constantly “edge” ourselves toward our ultimate goal. We cannot bench 250 pounds if we can only bench 100. So live on the edge. Strive to bench 105. Once you conquer that edge, give yourself another, and another to the point where the edge becomes sharp enough that you can break the limit of 250 that’s in your mind.

Living on the edge will constantly make you grow instead of stagnate. True, there are times where you should relax and take in the environment and reflect, but then you must inevitably climb out of the cocoon and embrace life. Some people want to climb back in where it’s all warm and safe, but that is in direct violation of nature itself. Can you imagine a baby who has been brought into this world struggle to go back in the womb? Yet, that’s what many people do. They go back to familiarity and deny their true power to grow.

You’ve got to find your edge. Find that place that’s not too comfortable, and yet, not too crazy. You’ve got to keep pushing yourself to that edge. Instead of benching 100 pounds, try adding 2.5 pound plates to each side and try to bench that. You may fail, but in time you will grow, only because you strove to push yourself to that edge. Find that edge and live on it. Live on it so you don’t fall into the trap of routine and complacency because if you do, it’s very hard to get out.

Your limits will start to disappear when you live on the edge. You’ll realize that there were none in the first place. It’s only hard to dismantle those limiting beliefs if you don’t push yourself to live on the edge. If you are way too complacent or way out there, you’re going to stay stuck.

So instead of doing the same thing at work, how about doing the same thing, but just a little bit better? If your business is the same, how about trying to increase profits by 5%? If you walk for 10 minutes a day, how about walking 5 minutes more? Live on the edge. An edge that’s not too far off to discourage you and not too easy that it doesn’t challenge you. It’s a hard place to describe. All I can say is that the edge will keep you on your toes and drive you to take action to grow.

If you lift weights, you’ll find you live for that edge. It’s an incredible feeling when you see the progress you made when just six months ago, you thought you could never lift what you easily do now.

Our limits have been set in concrete for so long in our mind that we cannot break them in one fell swoop. We must live on the edge and sharpen it to the point where we can use it to break down the concrete barrier until one day it crumbles, and then you come to the full realization that there are no limits in your mind, and that they can be broken, with time. That’s ultimately what I’m trying to get at. Live on the edge and break the limits in your mind.

This edge may take time to find. You’ll probably set it too low and find yourself not willing to take any action. Set it too high and you’ll hesitate to take action. But set it so that it’s just edgy enough that you want to take action. Then live on that edge and watch the limits crumble before your very eyes.

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