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Start small and build from there. It is because of human nature and years of conditioning that your automatic “tug-of-war” pulls you in the direction of “comfort” rather than “results”. This is why it’s called “the comfort zone”. As a consequence you may have developed a belief about yourself that you can’t do or achieve certain things. This is a pretty common self-belief for many people. The great news is that it can be changed with one small step at a time.
Would I prefer comfort or results?
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It’s actually important to make this change through small deliberates steps. The biggest mistake that many people make is trying to change their beliefs by going to the opposite extreme. For example, someone who hasn’t exercised for many years, and is extremely out of shape, all of a sudden deciding that they will exercise everyday. Generally, this person will last only a week or so before giving up. Or, I’m sure every coach has worked with someone who has high expectations and wants to set goals for themselves they know are unrealistic. They start out excited and motivated but find they cannot
maintain the required actions long enough to achieve success with their goal. When you go to the opposite extreme and set unrealistic goals that you eventually give up one you also start to develop the belief that you are not good enough. Over time this belief adds fuel and power to the “dark side” and when the mental tug-ofwar begins it is almost unstoppable! So, the secret is to start small – jump off a small rock and then gradually build up to the cliff from there. Start exercising just one day per week and gradually build up to four or five days from there. If you get into the habit of success and winning, no matter how small or insignificant it may initially seem, you will soon achieve much bigger and more exciting goals. The key to this is simple ...
Step outside your comfort zone daily When you listen to the stories of most successful people, at some point and in one way or another they will say that everything they have achieved was initially outside of their comfort zone. Isn’t that a bummer: everything we want lies outside our comfort zone. We can complain about it, pretend it isn’t true, cross our fingers and hope our life will turn out the way we want or we can accept that this is true and make it a habit of doing
Andrew Jobling played AFL football for St Kilda FC. He has over 20 years experience in motivation and wellbeing, is a successful speaker and best selling author of Eat Chocolate, Drink Alcohol and be Lean & Healthy, Simply Strength and newest book Dance Until it Rains. Visit Andrew at www.andrewjobling.com.au
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something small everyday that takes us out of our comfort zone.
Your challenge The challenge for you is to test yourself and prove to yourself that you are good enough and worthy enough of great things in this life. What can you do everyday that will prove to you that you are a success? Does the thought of exercise make you want to bite your foot off? If so, get up tomorrow and go for a short walk? Do you hate making sales calls? Commit to making 5 calls today? Are you afraid of asking for a pay raise? Go on, do it anyway! Is there someone you want to ask out but fear rejection? Take a chance – it could be the best thing you have every done and lead you to blissful love and happiness. And if not, know that you had the courage to do it anyway. There are things we all need to do that are uncomfortable and we aren’t currently doing. But if you want to have what you currently don’t have, you need to do what you currently aren’t doing. Think about this motivating quote: “I will do today what others won’t, so that I can live tomorrow like others can’t”. It’s a great motto to live by and it’s simple – just make it a habit to do something everyday that challenges you. This small habit, developed deliberately over time, will build your confidence and belief in yourself and give you the strength to win every “tug-of-war”. As a final exercise, take a minute to close your eyes and imagine how amazing life could be in the future if make at least one “uncomfortable” decision everyday.
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