Why is it so hard - and for some people even truly frightening - to begin something new? Quit a job, learn a new skill, move to a different country, start a YouTube channel, create a business, … Many people often complain about not being happy with their jobs, circumstances or conditions. But it is mostly talk and no action. Why is that?
We are all living in a fog of war. “Fog of war in strategy video games refers to enemy units, and often terrain, being hidden from the player; this is lifted once the area is explored, but the information is often fully or partially re-hidden whenever the player does not have a unit in that area.” (Wikipedia)
Beyond the threshold of the Known is the big Unknown. And that scares the shit out of us. Jordan Peterson calls it “the Chaos” – the opposite of order and safety. And I think it is that fear of the unknown that prevents us from changing anything about our lives. It feels safer to stay where you are, even if its not making you happy. There is this thought: What if there is something even worse? The imagined threats and risks seem to outweigh the potential gains from exploring the unknown.
There are people, mostly of the creative kind, who thrive on the border of Chaos. Who feel trapped and bored in the mundane. Who are thrill-seekers. The pioneers who just jump into the dark and illuminate it. They study, they do their research and open up new areas, new opportunities.
We don’t all need to be risk-loving, boundary-pushing and death-defying adventurers. But I think that there are great rewards in exploration and in doing things that feel uncomfortable.