How can you do anything you want in life? To me, the answer to this question lies within (well, outside) your comfort zone.
I see the world is one big jungle gym. I want to be able to survive - and thrive - in any circumstance I’m thrown into, and the only way I can do so successfully is by constantly pushing my limits and increasing my comfort zone.
I try to be the kind of person who says “yes” to anything. I aspire to live a high agency life by carving my own path, which involves deviating from the norm and not doing the things that most people are doing. I believe that it is only through being open to new, unconventional experiences that I can meet people I wouldn’t have otherwise met, which in turn, maximizes the amount of opportunities that come my way.
Some examples:
1. Two months before my internship started, I decided to push my start date back and go to Kenya for a month
2. I stood outside the UCC with my friend, holding an “Ask me about Jesus” sign (I’m not religious.) (He is.) Learned some interesting things about Christianity
3. I spent the coldest time of the year in Yellowknife
There's a thought experiment (source: Jean Buridan) where a donkey, equally hungry and thirsty, is standing between a stack of hay and a bucket of water. It looks left and right, but can’t decide between either option. As time goes on, it eventually dies of both hunger and thirst.
An extension of the story (source: me) is that the donkey finds itself at a donkey-buffet with hundreds of types of hay and water available. It tries a nibble of hay, but it thinks there’s better out there, so it moves on. Trying to select the best hay-water combination, the donkey also dies of hunger and thirst.
The moral of these stories is to make reversible decisions quickly and choose progress over perfection.