Get uncomfortable and claw your way to success

This week I met up with a good friend and we were discussing how he's recently been struggling with a crisis of confidence when performing and that he's felt like he is not worthy of the position that he now finds himself in.

This reminded me of the crab analogy and he took great comfort in this story so I hope you find it of use when either discussing with your own friends/ clients or within your own performance.

Crabs and other crustaceans cannot grow in a linear fashion because of their hard outer shells (exoskeletons) which do not grow. So they must shed their shells in order to grow.

Before this process a crab needs to get uncomfortable and out grow it's existing shell. Once the crab has experienced this shedding or moulting of its old shell there is a period of time where the crab is vulnerable because the new shell is soft and hasn't fully formed. Once this has formed the crab continues the cycle again growing until it's uncomfortable and then shedding its old self and stepping into a new vulnerable state.

This applies to my friend who is now in a transitional phase of his career. Like the crab he has stepped out of his old shell and moved into bigger arenas, performing on stronger bills with other 'crabs' who have already developed their hard exterior. So it's natural for him to feel vulnerable and uncomfortable for a period of time until he develops his hard shell.

My thoughts for this week are that if you want to grow, you need to get uncomfortable and break out of the safety and security that is currently around you. There will be a period of vulnerability because you're getting out of your comfort zone however, once you've developed your new shell, you'll wonder what you were worrying about.

To continue growing you have to continually get uncomfortable and keeping looking towards that next shell.

You can cling to the cliff face forever or you can choose to jump and wait for your parachute to open. I know which one I'm choosing , do you?

Jason Simmons is a hypnotist, magician and comedian. Jason is also the author of the forthcoming book: Tranceformation - A Mindset For Change