Erik: What is your comfort zone and what do you do to break free of living in it?
Joe: I'm a very simple man. I like three things: beer, women, and large-scale web infrastructure.
So that's my comfort zone. And to get out of that, I do a lot of things. I like to -- I
do a lot of random reading. I've always -- even as a kid, I read encyclopedias for fun just
because I liked learning about new weird things. So, I do a lot of that. I take in a lot of
information that has nothing to do with what I do. But I do that because it gives me a
window into areas of the world that I may not ever be able to experience. And may not
even really have any interest in experiencing. I also like to travel a lot. I think that
that definitely gets people out of their comfort zone because you're usually experiencing new
cultures, new language, new environments, new weather, new locales. So I'm a big fan
of traveling. So, those are the main things. I have a general rule that I'll try anything
once as long as it doesn't represent severe possible danger to my body. But yeah, I think
the world would be a lot better place if people had -- if they were open-minded enough to
just try it. Just try it. Trying that new cuisine that you've never tried, like, you
know, Indian cuisine is a common example. We're from the Midwest, right? You tell people
that you went out and had -- or sushi. Sushi in the Midwest, you might as well tell people
that you're like eating babies for breakfast. Right? They're like, "Ugh! Oh God!" Like just
try it. Millions of people eat sushi every day and they all live to tell about it. You're
not going to die if you have one piece of sashimi. So, I think that's a really good
rule, too. Take incremental steps outside of your comfort zone and next thing you know,
you've taken big strides outside of your comfort zone.