Complacency is an Adaptive Disorder
I am not comfortable any longer with where I am, there’s need for growth/changes no matter how little and so on are basically some pep talks one should have with him/herself from time to time with regards to either lifestyle, job position, family or with other personal endeavors.
Complacency defines in a situation where one becomes too comfortable with where they are such that they see no reason to improve. It is not such a bad trait for one to appraise him/herself sometimes after certain achievements in life but the issue lies with not seeing the need to step up from time to time. Self appraisals hence complacency may occur due to life’s natural endowments such as beauty (skin, body size/shape you name it), innate career placements (taking over family business) or favors of nepotism and wealth (as with cases of people born with silver spoon), the list goes on. Or it could come after much ado meeting up with the aforementioned.Whatever the case may be, there’s need for one to feel the need to advance in these pertinent areas of their lives.
While contentment is a great virtue to inculcate, there’s a thin line between that and complacency and it’s all to do with critically analyzing yourself and determining the truth no one else knows and may never know about the need to step up.
Questions like; is there really any need to do better? How will hoping to achieve more benefit me?
It’s not greed but growth
Let’s talk about some of the possible reasons why complacency sits in the lives of so many people myself included.
Ignorance
“Knowledge is power, ignorance is bliss” first part of the quote by Kim Harrison. Lack of information whether through means like radio, television and now social media platforms leads to lack of knowledge which in many ways contribute to one becoming unintentionally complacent without knowing. I will buttress more on social media.
Social media as far as I know, is the order of the day. It has become a powerful tool used by many for communication and also learning about different aspects of things about the world; from politics to country economy to relationships to beauty to education and the list goes on. Yet, not everyone optimizes them to their advantage for growth.
“Ignorance is bliss, imperfect knowledge is dangerous but perfect knowledge is power” Market Research Services for Market Mystique.
You find out that there are words lying about everywhere and no one is willing to put them to use to induce perfect knowledge. This is the worst type of ignorance.
To alleviate this cause, ignorance can be depleted by first, realizing within yourself the need to step up and grow. Once that has been achieved, you can search/find out ways to go about finding what you need to input in yourself. Google luckily has made it easier and convenient so much that you don’t need to have the right words to type before it displays results of what you may be meaning to search. Have a soul search and decide to know more.
“Action without knowledge is foolishness”
Al-Ghalazi
Lack of curiosity
The other part of the quote by Kim Harrison states thus “But Curiosity-even if it had killed the cat-is king”. For anyone who thrives and intends to be better at what they do in life has to adopt the spirit of curiosity. We know curiosity killed the cat but I want you to believe the cat it kills in your case be the state of complacency in if you let it.
Recently, I was getting my hair done by one of my close friends. She pampered my hair so well from start (perm and wash) to finish (setting). I was impressed. Not long after she completed what she was doing to my hair, she left a striking remark on the length of my hair that got my curious nerves quivering. She claimed my hair was of the same length as hers. What?! How come?! I exclaimed. This was coming from someone who had cut her hair about 7 years ago and I had not done anything of sorts since over 17 years. How’s that possible? I screamed with my eye sockets about to explode. Well, I have always had a long, thick healthy jet-black hair and never saw the need to implement hair care routines to improve it. I only desisted from the Don’ts rules such as frequent use of hot irons and not necessarily implementing the Do’s.
I confirmed that my friend’s hair was actually same length as mine
You would agree with me now that my reaction over her remarks and after confirming it to be true was worth it. How ridiculous! I exclaimed once more. Moving on, I allowed that to trigger lots of questions with regards to hair care routines from me to her. Questions like what works for you and doesn’t?, how often and so on. Then, she began explaining some of the ebb and flow hair care tips she’s adopted over time ultimately leading to her very beautiful overall hair status. As puzzling as it was, it pushed me to realize I had to do better and stop being too comfortable with what my hair status is whilst embracing how fortunate I am in the first place.
This is curiosity in its full fledge
How else do you learn when you are not fully willing to opening up to new possibilities, to let your mind wander and find what next step may be better for you? May I add that before now, I had gained knowledge about some of the black beauty/hair care routines from YouTube I could implement to make my hair better but I never deemed it right to commit to them for reasons best known to me. This knowledge was as a result of a thorough self talk I had over boosting a lot of things about myself including and beyond hair care. What’s the point? “Knowledge without action is useless” thus states the author Ted Nicholas.
My friend’s remark was a wake up call
Of course this goes beyond beauty and hair care tips to other aspects of one’s life. One thing is to be ignorant and another to be well informed and choose not to be curious to advance. What is holding you back? Perhaps, my next point.
Lack of resources (time, energy and money)
One of the reasons I don’t want to go natural like every other black girl these days is because I’m not sure I’m cut out for what it entails. The money involved in buying the “specific” products which have “specific” purposes and the time and energy required to maintain the toughness- texture, styling, growth and regrowth and so on. The protocol involved is strenuous. Going natural does not necessarily equate to advancement for someone like me with a straight hair it just has its own advantages which I will not delve in to here. Yet, I prefer and I’m 100% content keeping my straight hair because I cannot start what I cannot finish due to the aforementioned reasons.
Time, energy and money may be examples of what is holding you back from pursuing that next step or stage of advancement. That is highly understandable however, with the level you are at already, you could learn and prepare yourself for the next one you hope to get on to. You dislike your current job position because it’s not challenging enough, why not look at other extracurricular tasks to engage in that are challenging and use that opportunity to hone your skills for the change/promotion you are aiming for. You dislike that you are single and feel the need for companionship but have not made out time for it? Well, you could use the little self time you have got in learning & understanding who you are to truly determine if lack of time is the problem or just you. In which case, you would have spent enough time learning and loving who you are to be able to appreciate a partner if or when you create that time.
In essence
Resources are highly important when considering advancement and ditching complacency but lack of it should not fully stop you from achieving your goals. It is all about taking baby steps before getting there. Doing the little you can with where you are while aiming for more. “Rome was not built in a day” states John Heywood. Once you know you have the resources or better still have created them to get to the next level, DO NOT hesitate.
What am I trying to say?
Sometimes it takes a soul search to realize the need to step up your game, other times it happens accidentally as with the case between my friend and I, it can happen during an advert, word of mouth, compliment, mockery, sickness, travel and so on. It takes a lot to remind us. Whatever it is, make up your mind to grow. Make up your mind to advance. Stop letting anything such as failure to accomplish, not being good enough or lack of resources and/or information hinder you and render you incapable of reaching and attaining greater heights. No one else can do it better than you for you.
Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power. Curiosity killed the cat but in this case, make it the state of complacency. Some of the resources needed are ones that can be created by you (time and energy) and these can lead to creating other resources (e.g. money) for more advancements-you just have to make up your mind. Contentedness is great but what is greater is achieving that at beginning of every new stage as you advance after defeating complacency.
Or what do you think?
