Transcript

Get Comfortable. Lean back and enjoy the ride.

You know what's coming. It's the same tracks, the same turns. No real surprises, as you take round after round on the rollercoaster of life.

You always wondered what happened if you got off and walked.

There's something over there, calling you. Just beyond the edge of what you can see from your comfortable seat.

Welcome to a quick pause. A weekly podcast offering a moment of reflection, a chance to care for ourselves and to show up for each other.

Each week I'll offer you an inspiration and a practice to try.

Comfort, convenience, luxury. They are arguably the most overused and toxic words in the English language.

Comfort and convenience get us lulled into a false sense of security. Don't get me wrong, Netflix and delivery food are a wonderful thing every once in a while. But on repeat, buying comfort from big corporates isn't going to make you feel better. It's passive. The rewards stop right after you're done consuming it, then the hangover follows.

And even that picture of you in first class with your glass of champagne is receiving less likes every time you post another one. Luxury fades fast, and we need more and more to keep up its effect.

So what if we replaced comfort, convenience and luxury with care, curiosity and awe?

Caring for yourself and others generates a feedback loop that keeps giving back. And if you work on something you care about, you'll do things you didn't know you could.

Being curious – wanting to learn and understand – turns fights into conversations, opens new doors for you to grow and might lead you down surprising new paths.

And awe, that's the hard one. You can't do awe, you can only feel it. When you're committed to the moment, doing with care and curiosity, awe will be your companion along your journey. Awe is the inspiration that keeps you going, just beyond that edge of comfort.

So for this week your practice is to do one thing that is uncomfortable. It's probably something you've been intrigued by, but also a bit scared of. Maybe it's something you've always wanted to do, or something you long thought you had to stay away from. You'll know what it is. It might be small, or a bit bigger. Baby steps to start, once you said good bye to comfort, convenience and luxury, your friends care, curiosity and awe are going to guide you.

That's it. If you want to dive deeper, take out your notebook and fill a page or two reflecting on what feels a little uncomfortable, exploring that edge.

Thanks for coming on this journey with me. Now, go on, do something that's a little uncomfortable.

Until next week,

I'm Jonas Haefele and this was a Quick Pause.