The Danger of Being Comfortable 

This is a big old truth bomb! My dear old dad told me a long time ago that when life gives you pain, uncertainty and grief, it only turns out one of two ways. Either you dive into self pity, succumb to letting yourself be defeated and blame everyone else for your problems and let yourself be a loser the rest of your life. Or two, you look back and see how you could have put yourself in a better position and what he called status of your life, recognize that you share equally in whatever bad things are happening to you, work harder than you ever did even if it seems like you!re spinning your wheels, get pissed off and fight back hard and claw your way back up life’s ladder while making sure you don’t make the same past mistakes that put you in that spot so you’ll never feel the sting of defeat ever again. That’s when you become a winner, regardless of the ultimate outcome. God I miss him so much. It’s no wonder they called men like him the greatest generation.

Man this podcast hits home for me. I remember being so broke and depending on my first job as a paramedic and getting the call right before starting. "Sorry sir you have a minor in possession of alcohol on your previous history so you no longer have the job" I was over my head in debt and knew shit had to get done. Nobody else was going to do it for me. After appealing and busting ass to get them to hire me anyway, i was fired several months later due to my lack of communication skills with my trainer. It was difficult raveling down that dark hole and having to dig myself out. 10 years down the road, a career change, and completely out of debt (student loans, cars, camper, motorcyle, trailers, and nearly my house (it will be paid off this year)), a baby, second kid on the way, and a fantastic wife. When things are tough the real fucking man comes out. Guys like you resonate with the masses Pat. We appreciate you sharing all your life stories, the good, bad, and ugly.

Outstanding

If there was one piece of "Pat Mac" advice to be most valuable, I'd say this is the one! It is absolute hell trying to dig yourself back out of a pity hole!

During my contracting years I met several dudes who went from earning E5-E7 pay to earning 14k+ per month. And they got comfortable and went broke. They'd come home from deployment and buy a house, sign for new cars, buying the coolest new gear for themselves, treating their wives to expensive shopping etc. Then the contract would end and they couldn't find a new one. Or worse one of my closest buddies who had a tier 1 job went to Thailand for vacation before returning to A-stan. Had a great time, and when he exited a taxi at the airport the driver ran over his foot crushing it. Put him out of business. Had to sell his boat, his guns, his cars and lost his mortgage and moved into a small apartment. Comfort and complacency is a killer at home too. Not just the battlefield.

Retirement can be the same way. Comfortable and dangerous. Great vid.

hard to get kicked out unless a guy refuses a vackscene.

“So comfortable and I had no ideal how dangerous it was.” Should be the title of your next book. Your talk is resonating with me this morning. I once went straight from a car dealership in my new truck and a car payment to my job only to find out that the entire department had been laid off. While I didn’t really care for that job, it was an income source while I was waiting for “irons in the fire” to get hot again in the midst of hiring freezes. My co-workers who apparently had experience with the system encouraged me to go on unemployment and milk it, but after quickly discovering I hadn’t worked enough quarters for anything that would pay the bill, and my one-weekend-a-month Army Reserve drill paycheck pretty much negated it anyway. Forced me to go find another job. I fell in with a defense contractor providing a training product for the Army. Wasn’t real steady, but earned a junior reserve officer a lot of education and wisdom from a group of retired SF types, some who had been among the proverbial “40 men can shake the world” group. Hiring freezes were lifted and I spent 30 years in law enforcement before hitting mandatory retirement during COVID. Took a minor LE job to get out of the house and am now looking for something else. Yeah, that comfort zone gets shook in retirement. It also gets disrupted during pursuit of second careers. What we all need to remind ourselves is to get out of that box. Thanks for this message.

You can trace a large portion of our problems and their continued unchallenged status due to comfortability. Undoubtedly. This is why China has captured their populace with a seemingly mild tyranny. They have phones, they can go to the movies, they go out to eat. But there is an inherent fear in the soul.

Injuries can also be dangerous, especially after surgeries… and certainly before being cleared to start pt.

SGM: I have a similar story and parallel experience., (shock, humiliation, embarrassment, depression)...I didn't "land" as gracefully...but I did come through the fire. LTC, Retired.

My 4 years of peacetime Army in the 80’s told me the Army was NOT for me, too much BS. They were more concerned with how shiny the barracks floor was than how good you were at your job. Did I mention peacetime? I eventually landed where I thought I’d have a career…company was then purchased, everyone “laid off”. OMFG I hate that term. They were NEVER calling us back, we were simply fired. I “settled” into a government job I absolutely loved and was very good at, pay was absolute shit. But it was as you say, comfortable. In my 40’s I jumped off the proverbial cliff with NO safety net to join a local government public protection division. I landed on my feet, the gamble paid off, someday I hope to retire with a real pension. If the Army taught me anything, it’s how to be UN-comfortable.

To quote the great Rocky Balboa, The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!!!

Yah man, that video title is what I feel plaques the USA at present. Complacency allows the introduction of asshattery wherein the people don't think it's worth leaving the couch to stand up against whatever it may be. Because their Netflix and fast food and constant stresses of almost maybe making barely enough to keep their families fed. So, as much as I realize this particular video isn't quite about the same inferred topic I am implying, it does illustrate my feelings at present.

I tell you what, I really appreciate the entrepreneurs and jobbers alike that made my military pay ( which is not bad) possible. I had just gotten out of the Army when good ole government locked down and destroyed businesses. Lucky for me I had a little nest egg to get by, but I was getting a little nervous there for a while. Thank you entrepreneurs for all you do!

The last job I had laid me off. A foreign national was put in charge of the plant (from the balloon flying country) and he was committing all sorts of serious crimes. I reported the wrongdoing to my bosses and they did nothing. I then went to the ethics compliance officer like I was supposed to and got let go. The Feds came in about a year and half later and the foreign national was kicked out of the country and my bosses got fired too. The former employer black balled, me keeping me from getting another job. Talk about pissed. I should have just gone to the Feds and gotten a windfall as a whistle blower. Hopefully others will learn from my tragedy.

Don't discount having a job and being an employee and taking a nice salary. You can build up a reputation in an industry and make connections in an industry over the years. Being an entrepreneur has it's pros and cons. So does working for a salary. In some cases you can have a lot more security and a lot more money in your pocket by being an employee. It just depends on the situation. .There is no right way. Find what works for you. You might think that as an entrepreneur you don't have a boss. Don't kid yourself. You have clients. They are your boss and they can be much more demanding than a "regular" boss. And clients have even less loyalty to you than your employer has for you.

Stopping the morning PT routine might be the first thing starts a bad cascade effect towards being comfortable. At least, for me it was. Started getting up early and running again and it's brought me back

If you look at this video with true honesty - this shit is so true and well said. I could be more eloquent and erudite, but nah. Raw, good shit here.

This is a relatable topic, comfortability is at times as bad as settling. Thank you for diving into this!

Pat I’m 32 and retired. Started in tech sales and helped a few tech start ups IPO. I’m fucking 200lbs because i was in a wheelchair for 6 months. Been building myself up from that. But i’ve been retired for a year and I’m just gonna go back to work and start my own company. Being idle doing nothing sucks so hard. There’s only so many games and books you can read. Moving to more land now in the country and keeping my passive income and house in the NE. Spent too much time feeling like I’m a dog who caught the car nit knowing wtf to do with it. Your words have really helped get me moving. I appreciate that greatly. Thanks for all that you share.

“Complacency is a disease” -Team Wombat

*MORNING Y'ALL*

Mr. Pat - Don't know if you'll see this - any how LOVED your Basic Dude Stuff from Tu/062023. Doink, doink, doink!!!!!!!!!!! When I pull nose hairs my eyes water, I sneeze and it gives a very unpleasant momentary pain. Plus - The way Rebekker looks at you when you tell her jokes is priceless. Keep rolling brother and Thank you for the laughs and of course all your dynamic and educational information you share. Paul

I went through a similar issue. In ‘07 I was laid off. Lost my job and was out o wok or. Year. I used some training I received from the employer to get side work and a friend helped me out with steady work paid under the table and we survived. Seemed like the end. All the emotions you described I felt. BUT it was in hindsight the best thing to happen to me. Now im 15 years in to working with some true heroes. Im a fire mechanic with Palm Springs city. The work is truly rewarding. Love it. There is always something better on the other side.

I was lucky when I got out of the service. I leveraged my aviation training, the mindset, into information technology. I got out in '92. I got a good consulting gig right out the gate, worked on a major project with a big Wall St. entity... I was working alongside all these FTE's (Full time employees...), the project got completed and then another big tech firm was brought in to manage the operation.... part of that was all the FTE's basically got laid off and turned over to the tech firm taking over ops... and then all those folks got laid off. I saw that shit happen over and over again in IT on Wall St... I vowed never to let that happen to me, so I stayed mercenary, kept up on all the latest tech/certifications, and went after contracts always increasing my rate... personal incorporation and all that, paid for all my own benefits, retirement investments, etc.. I was single though with no financial baggage beyond rent.

You can waste your life easily, with comfort. You can live comfortably , and you can die comfortably, with me, this dangerous. Acharya Rajneesh I always recall this when i feel like quitting

Yep!! I think being comfortable breeds laziness in all aspects of life. Seen it so much previous jobs and have been guilty of it myself.

I've never been laid off or fired. Ive been employed since I started going to school. There is comfort in it. I often feel like I need a fire lit under my @$$ to get me going. Although I am a fairly motivated and accomplished person, I still am never satisfied, and think I am not reaching my full potential.

McNamara - Pannone 2024

Been there, and you are absolutely correct. Diggin’ the Tony Iommi shirt.

OMG. How true it is! “The danger of being comfortable.”

JUDAS PRIEST!!!!!

Incredible story. I'm pumped and ready to tackle my day, now!

As always, good advice. Thanks Pat!

Great perspective! Thanks again.

Nailed it, thanks. Now the stages make sense.

Well said brother

Respect ! 👍

Spot on!