“You may no longer be a student, but continue to be a life long learner. Seek out memorable experiences, not things. Keep meeting new people. Gravitate towards people who expand your horizons. Find the smartest people in the room and ask them questions.”
The above paragraph is a piece of advice I got on graduation day. Stumbling on it on my laptop today, is the perfect timing to a new week. Expanding my horizons is on my resolution list for the year. In my opinion, it should be on everybody’s list. It’s so easy to stick to your comfort zone, because it involves less effort and energy. In an extrovert world, that zone does not work to your advantage in all aspects, but even more professionally.
One of my favorite books is ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins. He talks about getting on the right bus and in the right seat; meaning to find where you belong and in what specific role. It is naive to think that this approach is a given if working in a developing country such as Rwanda, where creativity jobs are not exactly available, but mainly created/done on the side as freelance gigs. At the same time, it at least gives you what to look forward to, and reminds you that settling is the enemy of progress; a stumbling block to your journey towards what could drive your passion for that specific field of work.
Dear 20-ish year old straight out of college or working in that demotivating entry level job, getting on the right bus and in the right seat sure won’t happen overnight, and your society may unfortunately be one that tempts you to settle for less. However, the bottom line is that one thing can be in your control : gravitating towards people who expand your horizons.
Those “hi, how are you & bye” acquaintances you randomly cross paths with, that intimidating family friend who knows everyone and that know-it-all person whose brain is all over the place, could be the new horizon angles you need advice and reflections from. How to approach them may be awkward (wink to fellow introverts) … but what’s life without discomfort, right?
Mpinga K. Rwabuhihi 
Comfort zone is one of the hardest things to give up. Who wants to live uncomfortably? I guess a few or none. I say maybe a few because I certainly know some people enjoy pain. How do we call such people again?
At times I feel intimidated if invited to one of those high end parties. I don’t know what to expect, all of a sudden I feel so clumsy, I am afraid of the challenges those people are going to pose at me when I get there. Insecurity consumes me in all ways you can think of. Then I say to myself “Better the bad I know than the unknown good”.
I guess it’s the need to be comfortable that arrests me in such a situation.
I wonder how to escape this prison of comfort that is an illusion at the end of the day.
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