The Cost of Comfort
This one feels a bit vulnerable.
Last week I was on a mentoring call with fellow coaches from Ankush Jain’s 2025 AJC programme.
The session was led by Deryl Sweeney … one of the best leadership coaches I’ve ever met.
He opened with this theme: the cost of being comfortable. And straight away… I felt uncomfortable.
He shared five questions. If you answer them honestly, they might just change everything in your business and your leadership:
• Where am I being nice instead of powerful?
• What uncomfortable action have I avoided?
• What is the real emotion I try not to feel?
• If I stopped protecting my comfort today, what would I do?
• How much money has comfort cost me in my business?
That last one hit hard.
Tens of thousands. Maybe hundreds. I couldn’t count it. But I felt the cost immediately … in hesitation, in missed opportunities, in holding back. As the call went on, one question wouldn’t leave me:
What is the real emotion I try not to feel?
I didn’t know why, but it pulled something loose. Then, near the end, Deryl said a phrase I’ll never forget:
“Fear of creating too much.”
I don’t remember the context … because I was gone. Right back to 2006. The year of my burnout. The moment I collapsed in my brother Stephen’s office … sobbing, shaking, unable to speak.
I had driven myself to the edge. Taking on too much. Saying yes to everything. Trying to prove to myself that I was enough.
And I realised I’ve spent the last 20 years quietly protecting myself from that loss of control. Avoiding the risk of creating too much.
So…
I stayed away from scaling.
I avoided 10X goals.
I prioritised simplicity. I stuck with 1-to-1 coaching.
Not because I lacked ambition … but because I feared what might happen if I created more than I could handle.
And it kept me playing smaller than I needed to. Not small. Just … smaller than what’s possible.
Let me be clear. I still love 1-to-1 work. That’s my zone. I have no desire to run groups, build online courses or launch a school. It’s not what I want. But I do want to be free from the fear that’s shaped so many of my choices. Because here’s some new truth I’m seeing:
What I create can’t cause me to lose control.
It’s me who causes that … but only through my thinking.
And even if I get off track … I’m always just one thought away from a whole new experience of life.
That insight has opened something up in me. A deeper freedom. A clearer path. And possibilities that don’t just feel like ideas … they feel real.
What about you?
- Where are you being nice instead of powerful?
- What action are you avoiding?
- What emotion are you dodging?
- What would you do if comfort wasn’t running the show?
And most of all …
How much is comfort costing you in your business?
If this resonates, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at peter@pm-coaching.co.uk
And if you’re ready to move through your comfort zone and into the next level of leadership and impact …
Get in touch. I may be able to help.
Much love,
Peter