7 Underrated Quotes That Opened My Eyes About Being Complacent

A rut is just a habit that has lasted way too long.

You’ve inadvertently created a groove with your ho-hum routine and it’s gonna take the jaws of life to pull you out of it, start again, and create a new pattern.

But it’s time.

There’s no time like the present to look at your life and examine if you’re actually living into your hopes and dreams and what you aspired for yourself, or just cruising along on autopilot doing the same old shit.

Complacency is defined by Merriam-Webster as a feeling of being satisfied with how things are and not wanting to try to make them better.

It’s embracing mediocrity and depriving yourself of personal growth and opportunities and can be ruinous to a productive life.

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As someone who sometimes fights becoming complacent, here are a few thoughts that kicked me into gear.

“We have a normal. As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.“
– Robin Sharma

My take: Getting out of your rut and resisting complacency will allow you to create an exciting new normal, of your own creation, which will probably exceed your expectations and open the door for more.

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“The tragedy of life is often not in our failure, but rather in our complacency; not in our doing too much, but rather in our doing too little; not in our living above our ability, but rather in our living below our capacities.”
― Benjamin E. Mays

My take: You won’t know what you can do until your try to push beyond what you think you can do. It would be a waste of precious time in life to remain comfy, cautious, and unwilling to do more.

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“History and experience tell us that moral progress comes not in comfortable and complacent times, but out of trial and confusion.”
― Gerald R. Ford

My take: The lessons you need in life can best be learned when you allow yourself to get uncomfortable and maybe even make a mistake. The fear of failure is what keeps us immobile at times, but it’s far scarier to have a life that is half-lived.

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“If we sit by and become complacent and put our heads in the sand, we’re complicit.”
― Shelley Morrison

My take: Challenge yourself and consider new ideas as you grow. Staying stuck in old thinking may cause you to be part of the problem and never be open to inspired ideas or solutions that can exist.

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There are few things more pathetic than those who have lost their curiosity and sense of adventure, and who no longer care to learn.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

My take: Be a life-long learner and lover of creativity and curiosity and you’ll never have a dull moment. You’re never too old to learn new things, and the moment you stop seeking new challenges, you’ve committed to a mundane existence.

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“The hardest obstacle I’ve had to overcome is complacency.” — Malcolm Goodwin

My take: Busy lives can become habitual and easily lead you to become uninterested in change or trying new things. It takes work every day to resist getting pulled into your normal routine and the security it provides. Fight it every day.

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“Do what you did in the beginning of a relationship and there won’t be an end.” — Anthony Robbins

My take: Don’t get lazy in your relationships. What you did early on to nurture, care for, and value the bond needs to remain a constant. Don’t let your efforts fizzle out or you risk losing everything.

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Becoming complacent is the easiest thing as you try to balance finding a daily routine that works for you.

Resist the inevitable rut that comes from the ho-hum, by staying creative in your thinking and keeping your options open for change every day.

Here’s an eighth quote about the complacency of being on autopilot, just for good measure:

Someone said that our goals keep us going, but it’s our dreams that make us tick. So if you disconnect your goals from your dreams, don’t be surprised if one morning you realize that your life is on autopilot. — Author: Ray N. Kuili

My final take: You have to keep dreaming and stay focused on those personal goals and dreams. Adapt them as you grow and change, but never get stuck with one path to one goal. Iterate, think creatively, and try again.

I don’t want to have to get the jaws of life.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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