After some reflection, I think it is an important component of success....

Some have mentioned this below in a direct or indirect way...

like Bob Beckman (Re: Why do people have a fear of success?) and Michael Ross (Embrace the Fear)....

This point was just brought home to me in the last few hours....

I'm one of three brothers, and my youngest brother is about 10 years younger than me. My brother is still studying at university, and he has been working at a part-time finance-related job for about 3 weeks....

And he just negotiated a 40% pay rise!

I won't go much into the details.... except that he had a better offer, and used it to leverage a better pay and more flexible working hours. But he said something to me that just struck home, after all these discussions....

He told me he had to leave his comfort zone.

He told me he felt uncomfortable about possibly resigning from a job after working there only 3 weeks, and also about negotiating a higher pay rise.

But he stepped out of his comfort zone to negotiate.... even though he had only been there 3 weeks....

Sometimes, I guess you've got to do that if you're going to get ahead....

My brother may be 10 years younger than me, but I seem to learn from him all the time.... :)

Just some thoughts.... I hope this sparks some ideas in you :)

- Dien