Your Life Was Never Meant to Be Lived in Safe Waters

What happens when a ship remains anchored in the safety of the harbor? That ship in the harbor might be protected from storms and rough seas, but it's missing its fundamental purpose. This powerful metaphor frames our exploration of personal growth, fear, and the necessity of venturing into uncertainty to discover our true potential.

The harbor represents those places in life where we feel secure — the steady job that doesn't fulfill us, the relationship that's comfortable but lacks passion, the dream perpetually postponed. While these comfort zones serve important purposes for rest and preparation, they become problematic when we refuse to leave them. Growth, discovery, and purpose are found in the vast unknown, where waves test our resilience and winds push us beyond perceived limitations.

Consider the moments that truly shaped your character and capabilities. Were they times of safety and comfort, or periods of challenge and uncertainty? Every great explorer, entrepreneur, artist, and changemaker throughout history had to leave their personal harbor, facing the possibility of failure but discovering new strengths within themselves. As Sidney Smith poignantly observed, "A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage." Where in your life are you still anchored? What adventure have you been postponing? The journey won't be perfect, but I guarantee it will be worth it. The horizon is calling — it's time to untie those ropes and set sail toward the greatness that awaits beyond your comfort zone.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey everybody, welcome to this week's episode
of the Michael Noon Podcast.
Hope you're doing well, hopeyou're having a great week, hope
you've been listening.
Maybe you've taken some of this, you've applied it to your life
and some of these episodes inthe past maybe they're working
for you.
I know I've talked to somepeople who've been reading my
book.
They said that everyone makesthem stop and think about things

(00:21):
and maybe redefine certainaspects of their life.
So that's always good to hearthat.
So, listen, I'm really excitedabout it Today again, you know
I'm always talking about fear.
I'm talking about comfort zones.
You know big part of what I doBecause, really, in order to
move forward in life, you haveto have a new willingness to
take that step I've often talkedabout a lot of times people
won't do that because they justwant to stay in that comfort

(00:43):
zone, that safe area.
Right, because, like, the brainjust says no, no, no, don't get
out of here.
We know what's going on here,we don't know what's out there
in the darkness, so don't go.
But today I want to talk aboutthere's this quote that I really
like and it basically says thata ship in a harbor is safe.
But that's not what ships arebuilt for.
And it's a powerful metaphorreally for life, not what ships
are built for.
And it's a powerful metaphorreally for life, for growth, for

(01:04):
purpose.
Because imagine this grandvessel, right, this beautiful,
beautiful ship, you know,carefully constructed,
reinforced to weather the storms.
Right, it's built for the seas,it's built for the oceans, you
know, it's got that capabilityto cross these vast bodies of
water, yet it remains anchoredin the harbor, protected,
untouched by salt and spray.

(01:26):
It's free from the risk ofrough seas, it's safe.
But is that safety worth it?
Isn't the purpose of a ship tosail, to explore, to embark on
great journeys?
So now I have to ask you, whatabout you In life?

(02:14):
The harbor, if you haven'tpicked up on this yet,
represents comfort zones, theplaces where we feel secure,
where risks are minimal, wherefailure is unlikely.
It's the steady job thatdoesn't fulfill you, it's the
relationship that's comfortablebut lacks real passion.
It's that dream you keeppostponing, because stepping
into the unknown feels daunting.

(02:35):
But the harbor, it isn't a badplace.
Your comfort zone isn't a badplace because, realistically, it
is where we prepare, it's wherewe rest, where we gather our
strength.
But staying there forever, isthat really something we should

(02:56):
be doing, because that's notwhat we or what that ship is
designed for.
See, growth doesn't happen inthe harbor.
It happens in that vast unknown, where those waves test your
resilience, where the wind isgoing to push you beyond what
you thought you can endure.
The journey might beunpredictable, but it's really

(03:18):
where your purpose is found.
You know that business, youwant to start that new career
path that's calling you the boldconversation that you need to
have, that you've been avoidingthose other risks that you've
been avoiding.
Those things don't happen inthe safety of the dock, you know
, when you're just sitting there, tied there, where everything's
great and the water's calm.
They happen when you untie theropes, you set sail and you get

(03:41):
out there.
Now I get it, you know I get it.
Venturing out means facinguncertainty.
I know that because I've doneit quite often in my life.
But I will tell you we've doneit so often that the point that
we find that uncertain situationin our lives, we just go for it
because what we've been able todo is build resilience.
We have something to build on.
So if we feel a littleuncertain about something, we

(04:04):
you know we make an educateddecision.
We're actually making one rightnow, probably talk about it,
hopefully have great news andwe'll talk more about it next
week, but uh, but anyway, youknow, we've just always pushed
forward.
So the thing is, becausethere's always going to be
storms, right, no matter whatyou do, when you get out into
that world of uncertainty,there'll be setbacks.
The wind won't always be atyour back.
But again, the ships, you weredesigned to withstand the waves.

(04:27):
You know.
You were built to overcomeobstacles.
Every great explorer,entrepreneur, artist, leader,
any changemaker in history hadto leave the safety of their
personal harbor.
They risked failure, they facedadversity, but they also
discovered new lands, newopportunities, new strengths
within themselves.

(04:47):
So the thing is, you were madefor more, you know.
Think about those moments inyour life that truly shaped you,
the times that made youstronger, wiser and more capable
.
My daughter says to me all thetime she goes daddy, why do I
have to go to school?
And and you know the standard,you know company answer would be
well, you got to go to learn,right, you got to get there.
You got to learn how to do yourmath, your science, you know

(05:16):
your technology, all that stuff,and I do say that a little bit,
I said.
But you know what.
It's there that you learn aboutrelationships.
It's there that you learn aboutyour friendships.
It's there that sometimes youhave to learn overcome you know
other challenges you might behaving and building resilience.
You know, school, thatmicrocosm that you exist in
helps grow you in so many otherways.
Again, when I talked to herabout it, you know it's it's in
these times that they, they makeyou stronger and again, wiser

(05:36):
and more capable to deal withthese things down the line.
Now I guarantee for the timesthat you've gone through it and
I know sometimes with her,they're not easy moments.
They're challenges.
And if you're about to set offand embark on a big journey, a
career change, a relationshipchange, a new business venture,
whatever the risks, the riskshit you the moment when you

(05:59):
leave the harbor.
But again, you were not designedto play small, you were not
built to stay safe.
You know.
Again, one of my favoritequotes comes from a writer named
Sidney Smith A great deal oftalent is lost to the world for
a want of a little courage.
Every day sends to their gravesobscure men whose timidity

(06:22):
prevented them from making afirst effort.
It's just a powerful statementabout how fear and hesitation
just stop people from reachingtheir potential, about how fear
and hesitation just stop peoplefrom reaching their potential.
It's all about having thatconfidence, that self-esteem and
personal development to reallymove yourself from where you are
now to where you really want tobe Again.

(06:43):
You were not designed to playsmall.
You were not built to play safe.
You were meant to explore, topush past fear, to grow, to
evolve.
So I ask you, where in your lifeare you still anchored?
What adventure have you beenputting off?
What happens or what is thepossibility of greatness that
can happen if you finally setsail?
See, the world is waiting, thathorizon it's calling.

(07:07):
But that journey it's not goingto be easy.
It won't be perfect, but Iguarantee you it is going to be
worth it.
So if you're holding back, ifyou're letting fear or
uncertainty or you don't know,if you just need somebody to
give you a push, give you alittle bit of wind in your sails
.
Let me be that guy, becauseright now it's time to untie

(07:29):
those ropes.
Okay, and you got to get outthere and he got to start
sailing.
All right, everybody, that'sall I got for you today.
Again, as always, I appreciateyou being here, appreciate
everybody's been buying my bookfive basic keys to living
successfully in between.
You can find it on Amazon.
Um, make sure, uh, you know,just keep sharing podcasts with
your friends.
I do appreciate that.
It's a lot of people struggling.

(07:50):
There's a lot of uncertainty inthe world right now.
A lot of people, a lot of peoplejust you know out there
probably use just a littlesomething.
You know, I don't think I couldfix everybody.
I'm not trying to fix people.
Most people I talk to they'reokay, they're doing well,
they're doing okay.
They just want a little bitmore.
They podcast really is here.
It's about just kind of givingyou a little bit of help, a
little bit of that motivation tokind of just push you, just

(08:11):
pushing you along, help you out.
And, as I've often talked about, I don't come from your place
of hey, look at my life.
It's so perfect, everything'sgreat, and now I'm going to tell
you how I got there.
I'm in the journey too.
So, if you're new to me, goback.

(08:32):
You to keep building, all right.
So have a great weekend, besafe and, as always, I got
nothing but love.
We'll see you next time.