On New Year’s Eve, Travis Pastrana made history in Long Beach, CA by driving his car at about 90 miles per hour down the Pine Avenue pier (which had been temporarily elongated for this event), navigating the airborne vehicle over the water, and landing it safely on a barge some 270 feet away in the harbor. It’s safe to say that by smashing the previous record of 171 feet, his achievement is likely to remain the new standard for quite some time.

Whether or not you understand why someone would take this kind of chance, you probably would agree that the stunt was an extreme form of pushing the proverbial envelope. By his words and actions immediately following his successful landing (including a back flip into the cold harbor water), Mr. Pastrana clearly was highly energized by the ride and its outcome, though he admitted later that he had been very nervous just before he started his race down the pier. (Although his mother was nearby, she confessed to a reporter she had been unable to watch his record-setting attempt.)

It has been said that people grow when they push themselves outside of their comfort zones. Personally I have found that statement to be true: I learn more, go further, and make dramatically faster progress in life when I am operating outside of my comfort zone. Sometimes I have done that intentionally, such as when I decided to leave the security of my job as a tenured professor to start my own business; other times I have found myself acting opportunistically, having no idea whether what I was about to do actually would work. Though I am highly unlikely to engage in any form of extreme physical activity, I have to say that my biggest successes are the result of having done things that required me to push myself far outside my comfort zone. It’s both scary and exhilarating – much as Mr. Pastrana demonstrated on New Year’s Eve after his safe landing.

Think back to a time during which you experienced a major success. Were you operating inside or outside your comfort zone? How did the success – and the journey leading up to it – make you feel? What did you learn from the experience?

During 2010 my intention is to emulate a very successful colleague who, after making some bold changes in his business, stated, “I am going to become comfortable living in my discomfort zone.”

I invite you to consider pushing your own boundaries this year as a way to grow both personally and professionally. Let me know how you do!

© 2010 Pat Lynch. All rights reserved.