Set Your Inner Thermostat!

Set Your Inner Thermostat! / 129, 24 Aug 2024

These articles explore self-development in the context of Management and Leadership, and are based on personal experiences, reading, and reflections.

Views are strictly personal. Reference sources are cited. Feedback is welcome!

We have all had inspiring “a-ha” moments in our professional lives – getting a coveted promotion / assignment, gaining a new insight to solve a problem, getting recognition for achievements, etc. What did we do after that moment – did we push ahead with the heady rush, or did we gradually slide back to status quo, our default comfort zone? That is the topic we explore today, do read on!

While a regular thermostat enables us to switch between degrees of temperature; our inner thermostat enables us to switch between degrees of complacency. This default setting either helps us achieve great heights in our professional life; or prevents us from doing so. Let us look at a few examples of how this inner thermostat can push us forward or hold us back:

• After resolving to go for a run every morning, on a day when we feel tired or the weather is bad, our inner thermostat can either tempt us to skip the run for the day or push us out of bed no-matter-what. It’s our own setting.
• Amidst our busy work life, given an exciting new assignment, our inner thermostat can either tempt us to avoid it because of workload, or push us to accept it for greater accomplishments. It’s our own setting.
• When there is a problem at work, our inner thermostat can either tempt us to keep complaining in the background or embolden us to step forward and find a solution. It’s our own setting. ??

The career-graph of successful people usually appears like a collection of best moments in their lives. But reality is different! No one is as good as their best moments, or as bad as their worst moments – we are the dreaded average of all our moments, the best, the worst, and those in-between. It is just that successful people have a higher “average” due to their different inner thermostat setting – which is not set default to the low-risk high-comfort zone, but to the high-risk low-comfort zone. Over decades, this setting has pushed them out of bed, made them volunteer for tough jobs, and forced them to step up during problematic situations. This keeps them growing and brings them greater success.

To summarise, it is our inner thermostat setting that defines the trajectory of our life and achievements. And like any regular thermostat, the knob is in our hands! Let us slowly turn it higher, away from the comfort-zone range to the growth-zone range. I hope you enjoyed reading this one and look forward to your feedback and thoughts as we build a conversation around this topic.

Warmest regards, Krishnakumar.

Image courtesy:

Replace your current thermostat with a smart thermostat. (kingheating.com)

Reference Sources:

Bing Videos

'Inner thermostat' setting (stretchandbloom.com)

Inner Thermostat: Turn Up the Self-Image Heat (youtube.com)

Smith Business Insight - Managing Your Inner Thermostat (queensu.ca)