Experimental or in-progress: Under construction
Rest, comfort, growth and uninhabitable zones
• 8 minute read
If you're reading this for whatever reason, please note that this is mostly draft / mental notes copy for now. I'm designing this one in the open because juggling branches was becoming a bit of a headache! I think about comfort levels a lot, as well as the optimal conditions for personal and professional growth. This blog post compares the proximity of planets to a sun and their ability to sustain life, with zones of professional and personal growth and proximity to high pressure and unhealthy or dangerous situations.
Intro (placeholder): The circumstellar habitable zone is the band where liquid water could exist on a rocky planet—not so close to its star that surface water boils away, and not so far that it freezes solid. The same idea shows up in work and life: too little challenge and nothing grows; too much, for too long, and the environment stops supporting you.
Ideally you're able to intentionally navigate between these zones. knowingly entering them, knowingly shifting out of them, and being able to identify when you end up in one unintentionally.
Planets have a disadvantage of having to deal with thehand theuir delt. Ideally you have the o opportunity to move in and out of these bands.
Deep field, quiet instruments
Placeholder (orbit-0b): A second band still in cold deep blue—set context before the palette warms toward the inner system.
rest is crucial. Ideally, you move in and out of this zone as often as you can tell you need to. Meditation happens here. Wellness is encouraged. Growth here is found through self-reflection. Self-reflection is only possible when you take the time to rest. end state Capitalism has some how perverted it self enough makes us feel guilty for intentionally spending too much time in this zone. I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard a colleague say I shouldn't have taken a sick day there was too much on, Or the times I've felt guilty or a sense of FOMO or just a sense of regret for calling in taking a day to look after myself. It's easy to feel guilt in this zone, though in truth, you're often giving yourself the biggest treat it can have. Normalize spending as much time in this space as you need. [include link to the reflective practice talk here.]
Far from the star — cold, slow orbits
Placeholder copy: Out here, energy is scarce. Days are long, chemistry is sluggish, and anything that needs warmth and light has to work harder for smaller returns. In teams, this is the zone of endless process, risk aversion, and ideas that never quite thaw.
not much growth happens here. You can grow if you're really hungry, yet generally that hunger will move you into a growth zone anyway. Confidence building can happen here. validation of skills through repetition can happen here. There is plenty of room here to observe landscapes, plot and plan. Good planning can happens here. It's good to learn to identify when you're here unintentionally, and when you do, often that might be a sign for you to move yourself into a growth zone again. Moving into this zone to catch your breath is A-OK. Deciding that you want to spend a lot of time here is also A-OK.
Approaching the inner system — more energy, sharper trade-offs
Placeholder copy: As you move inward, everything speeds up: more radiation, shorter cycles, stronger gradients. Momentum feels great until radiation pressure and solar wind strip away the atmosphere you were counting on. High growth without buffers can look similar.
this is a good space to be. If you can intentionally move yourself into this space and out of this space, you're doing well. If you have the right leader or people manager that can identify when you need to be placed back into the space, that's also great. To succeed. You need the right tools. You need the right people around you. If you have the foresight to know how to put yourself into the space, it'll do it for you. There is often a discomfort here. being outside of your comfort zone can feel painful. Especially when the conditions aren't right. Fundamentally, however, this is where growth happens. Growth can be painful. Long-term sustainability with the right tools, the right amount of rest, the right people around you, the right support, the right boundaries between work and home.
Before the bright centre
Placeholder: Copy about sensing warmth before you see the disc.
generally find yourself here by accident, or because something's gone wrong. It's not a safe space to be long term. These two burn out, overwhelm, etc. It's not a healthy growth zone. You don't grow here, you react. You collect battle scars. You lean on intuition, and cortisol fuels your days.
When we catch up at the pub and you say work is, in inverted brackets, stressful, but you can't give much more than that, I think you're ending up in this phase mate. You're flying pretty close to the sun. is tolerable in doses, but is not good for you, And deep down, you know it. You do. Maybe you ignore it, maybe you don't. That's fine. but your body will Hopefully be honest to you.
you might gaslight yourself and normalise this phase. We've all done it. That's cool. But I don't think you know it's safe, or you'll probably only feel like it.