Complacency is a very positive word with a very negative connotation. Put simply, complacency is a state of peace and safety, the understanding that you are in a good place and that you are in a satisfactory state of being. It sounds like the life. However, complacency or being complacent can have significant repercussions both personally and ethically.
Complacency can lead to career stagnation, for instance. If you feel complacent in your job, you will likely be unmotivated to upskill or study further education. A nurse who isn’t complacent may enrol in an online DNP or pivot with a Graduate Diploma of Psychology and forge a new career path. What about ethics? If everything is okay in your own life, it may numb you to the struggles of others. The upper-class elite, separated from the working class and the poor may be complacent in their elevated social status, but that complacency also leads them to minimize the suffering of those systemically beneath them.
Complacency is a good thing when it’s healthy, however, when people are stuck in complacency they can experience a severe reduction of accountability and awareness that dulls them to internal stagnation, and external discord.
How then, can we remain aware of our state of complacency, and break the cycle if we are caught in its grips?
Recognizing When You Have Become Complacent
Complacency can happen in any area of your life. You can become complacent in your career, in your relationships, in what you eat, how you present yourself. The insidious thing about complacency is that you may not even realize that you’re in its grasp. Therefore the first step to recognizing complacency for what it is is to be self-aware.
Career Complacency
Let’s say you’re working your dream job. How happy are you really in this role? If you were to look inward and compare your current state now with how you were when you first started working, are you truly happy or are you merely “safe?” Of course, there are many definitions of happiness, and happiness looks different for everybody, however, if you realize that at the start of your career there was a hunger and passion that isn’t there anymore, even though you still like your job, you may have fallen into the trap of complacency.
Relationship Complacency
Complacency in relationships can be particularly dangerous. As we grow used to our partners we can often start to lose our sense of wonder with them. The “honeymoon” state, as it is so often called in a relationship’s infancy, is widely understood as a temporary state of being, however, that doesn’t have to be the case. The Honeymoon state occurs because we are enthusiastic about a new adventure with a new person. It only wears off when we stop being curious about our romantic partner and the dynamics we share. Take a look at your relationship with a critical lens. When was the last time you expended real effort in doing something special for your partner? When was the last time they did the same for you? If “the spark” appears to have gone out, even though you still care for and love each other, complacency may have taken root in the relationship.
Life Complacency
Complacency in your general life refers to a lack of wonder at the state of existence. The state of simply going with the flow instead of seeking experiences. Depending on your personal values, this can be either a very good thing or a very bad thing. After all, there is no harm in contentment, and being content is often the first step to becoming happy.
However, other people thrive on a sense of adventure, and even for those who enjoy their contentedness, you can only remain truly content if you switch things up every now and then, a rare holiday, a class in a craft you’ve always been curious about. Adventure doesn’t have to be big grand tours of the world after all. It can be a little day trip to a corner of your own town you’ve never seen before. Combating complacency in life is done through learning and discovery, so keep an open mind, and cultivate your sense of wonder.
Ethical Complacency
When you aren’t living according to your beliefs, or keeping on with your own state of existence despite the pain it may cause others, you may be ethically complacent. It is important to recognize that everyone has certain levels of social privilege and social barriers, and that it is only by uniting behind certain causes and advocacy groups, that people can truly recognize the best outcomes for the majority of society.
It can be tempting to remain ethically complacent, as being otherwise demands that people remain aware of very painful and hurtful truths. However, part of life is to be aware of the bad so it can be changed for the good, and if you feel that you lack conviction or a moral stance, it may benefit you to examine the person you want to be and the world you want to live in.
