How to Bust Out of Your Comfort Zones and ACHIEVE
Your natural instincts are actually fighting against your success in achievement. You may have the best of intentions and the most well-thought-out game plan, but if you let your guard down for a moment, your natural instincts will take you down. Why? Because the goal of our natural instincts is to keep us safe and secure. Instinctively, we fight for self-preservation, and the status-quo of life is interpreted as security. We instinctively seek a comfort zone in life where nothing will ever change. The reality is that, although we may desire achievement, we instinctively run from change.
A comfort zone is an emotional mindset that is created from your thinking habits over a period of time. Your emotions interpret fear as a threat, and you then naturally retreat to your comfort zone where nothing is going to change. That status quo position is instinctively interpreted as safety. Of course, the emotional security represented by a comfort zone is an illusion. It offers no security at all, but it feels emotionally comfortable because it has been built on thinking habits that are motivated by fear.
So how do we get past what seems to be so natural for us? It takes a systematic approach to break out of unproductive routine and into effective actions that lead to achievement. I've outlined a few things to keep in mind that will help you break out of your comfort zones.
#1 – Ditch your negative attitude
It may sound simple, but managing a consistently effective attitude will be one of the greatest challenges of your life. Negative attitudes stem from fear. The emotion of fear is a protective reflex and is a basic, instinctive, human response. As an example, if you see or feel a perceived danger, your natural response is fear. Because fear is instinctive, many people naturally develop the habit of responding to most of the circumstances of life from the emotion of fear. Unfortunately, this leads to negative, unproductive attitudes.
For example, if you set a goal that requires you to do new things, these new activities will seem uncomfortable at first. That is normal, but you may instinctively respond with fearful feelings because the new activities are uncomfortable. You psychologically interpret those fearful feelings as "risks" or "dangers," while in fact these new activities may not be dangerous at all ... but you will naturally respond with negative feelings. If this kind of negative thinking remains unchecked, it can develop into a habitual perspective of pessimism that can start to feel like a comfort zone.
#2 – Take Action!
I have defined achievement as "the result of doing the right things consistently over a sustained period of time." The right things are those predetermined, effective actions that are necessary in achieving your goals. That is why effective actions are so important, even vital, for achievement.
Your desire to stay in your comfort zone will lead you to believe that the necessary items on your to-do list are just as important as the necessary effective actions that help you reach your goals, and nothing could be further from the truth! This is precisely why people choose not to do the high pay-off actions. They are instinctively drawn toward those activities that are most comfortable.
Your activities that directly support your ultimate goals should be your first priority each and every day. You will need to develop the ability to separate the necessary to-do items (i.e. washing the car, balancing the checkbook, cleaning the office, etc.) from the necessary, effective actions required to accomplish a goal. Both types of actions are necessary, but never confuse the two in planning your day.
Some people's effective actions will include cold calling, prospecting, or developing a new skill. Others will include honing design skills, mastering new software, or strategic planning. Your effective actions may look different from someone else, but the principal is the same. You must choose to prioritize those activities that directly support your goals to avoid falling into a comfort zone of routine.
#3 – Nurture your faith
Faith is a spiritual term. It makes no sense intellectually and can be understood only from a spiritual perspective, but do not discount it. Regardless of your religious or non-religious position, belief is vital in your growth and achievement, and you cannot understand belief without an understanding of faith. If fear is a natural instinct, then faith is its antithesis.
Psychologists suggest that we all have three dominant parts of our being: physical, mental, and spiritual. You cannot grow and achieve without the basic belief that you can do it, and that belief involves faith. Faith requires a spiritual perspective. Some cannot believe in anything that they cannot see or touch, but growth is always unseen until it is achieved.
There will be times in your achievement journey when quitting or giving up will seem like the only alternatives. Every natural instinct will be shouting for you to retreat to the supposed "safety" of a comfort zone. At these times, it will take the strength of your faith to prevail. You must believe that you can achieve, for it is the spark that sustains you.
Just take a few small steps today – guard against negative attitudes and reactions, take effective action, and believe that you can achieve. Most people do not develop in grand leaps; most of us grow in small increments. The reality of achievement is that it does not matter how small the step is, as long as you take those steps consistently and those steps continue to increase. As long as you make a commitment to grow consistently and never settle into a no-growth pattern, your comfort zones don't stand a chance. You will achieve.
A comfort zone is an emotional mindset that is created from your thinking habits over a period of time. Your emotions interpret fear as a threat, and you then naturally retreat to your comfort zone where nothing is going to change. That status quo position is instinctively interpreted as safety. Of course, the emotional security represented by a comfort zone is an illusion. It offers no security at all, but it feels emotionally comfortable because it has been built on thinking habits that are motivated by fear.
So how do we get past what seems to be so natural for us? It takes a systematic approach to break out of unproductive routine and into effective actions that lead to achievement. I've outlined a few things to keep in mind that will help you break out of your comfort zones.
#1 – Ditch your negative attitude
It may sound simple, but managing a consistently effective attitude will be one of the greatest challenges of your life. Negative attitudes stem from fear. The emotion of fear is a protective reflex and is a basic, instinctive, human response. As an example, if you see or feel a perceived danger, your natural response is fear. Because fear is instinctive, many people naturally develop the habit of responding to most of the circumstances of life from the emotion of fear. Unfortunately, this leads to negative, unproductive attitudes.
For example, if you set a goal that requires you to do new things, these new activities will seem uncomfortable at first. That is normal, but you may instinctively respond with fearful feelings because the new activities are uncomfortable. You psychologically interpret those fearful feelings as "risks" or "dangers," while in fact these new activities may not be dangerous at all ... but you will naturally respond with negative feelings. If this kind of negative thinking remains unchecked, it can develop into a habitual perspective of pessimism that can start to feel like a comfort zone.
#2 – Take Action!
I have defined achievement as "the result of doing the right things consistently over a sustained period of time." The right things are those predetermined, effective actions that are necessary in achieving your goals. That is why effective actions are so important, even vital, for achievement.
Your desire to stay in your comfort zone will lead you to believe that the necessary items on your to-do list are just as important as the necessary effective actions that help you reach your goals, and nothing could be further from the truth! This is precisely why people choose not to do the high pay-off actions. They are instinctively drawn toward those activities that are most comfortable.
Your activities that directly support your ultimate goals should be your first priority each and every day. You will need to develop the ability to separate the necessary to-do items (i.e. washing the car, balancing the checkbook, cleaning the office, etc.) from the necessary, effective actions required to accomplish a goal. Both types of actions are necessary, but never confuse the two in planning your day.
Some people's effective actions will include cold calling, prospecting, or developing a new skill. Others will include honing design skills, mastering new software, or strategic planning. Your effective actions may look different from someone else, but the principal is the same. You must choose to prioritize those activities that directly support your goals to avoid falling into a comfort zone of routine.
#3 – Nurture your faith
Faith is a spiritual term. It makes no sense intellectually and can be understood only from a spiritual perspective, but do not discount it. Regardless of your religious or non-religious position, belief is vital in your growth and achievement, and you cannot understand belief without an understanding of faith. If fear is a natural instinct, then faith is its antithesis.
Psychologists suggest that we all have three dominant parts of our being: physical, mental, and spiritual. You cannot grow and achieve without the basic belief that you can do it, and that belief involves faith. Faith requires a spiritual perspective. Some cannot believe in anything that they cannot see or touch, but growth is always unseen until it is achieved.
There will be times in your achievement journey when quitting or giving up will seem like the only alternatives. Every natural instinct will be shouting for you to retreat to the supposed "safety" of a comfort zone. At these times, it will take the strength of your faith to prevail. You must believe that you can achieve, for it is the spark that sustains you.
Just take a few small steps today – guard against negative attitudes and reactions, take effective action, and believe that you can achieve. Most people do not develop in grand leaps; most of us grow in small increments. The reality of achievement is that it does not matter how small the step is, as long as you take those steps consistently and those steps continue to increase. As long as you make a commitment to grow consistently and never settle into a no-growth pattern, your comfort zones don't stand a chance. You will achieve.