STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Step out of your Comfort Zone
Do you want to know why your diets fail? Or why you quit that exercise program just when you start to see excellent results? Or why that business you’ve been planning to launch never seems to leave the planning stage? It’s Your Comfort Zone
What does your comfort zone look like?
Is it the one where you find yourself falling back into the comfortable Friday night pizza routine, sleeping in on weekends, and thinking of the fries you ate as a vegetable? What? It was high in protein when you count the chili and cheese.
The word “Comfort Zone” is the kind compared to the damage you are doing
I want to tell you that the words, “Comfort Zone” is a kind name for what is causing your relapse. It’s been called many other not so kind things like failure mechanism, pain body, and resistance to change, or fear of change.
I may not be the first person to tell you this, or this may not be the first place you’ve heard this but what is stopping your progress IS YOUR OLD SELF.
The Comfort Zone Battle is with Your Old Self
You are progressing amazingly into the new life and new self you have envisioned. Life is looking like everything is falling into place, then you wake up one morning, and you have pulled a muscle that keeps you from working out for a week. You pick up the phone and holy crap! You know it is not the phone’s fault. Crap, crap, crap!
You reach a weight that you know you feel and look good at, a weight that the compliments come rolling in. One day after the scale says, “Hello, you have almost reached that point where you always fail, but you look awesome today.” Of course, this will be the day when you decide to eat chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Or the day you declare on Facebook that you are finally in a relationship, and he/she breaks up with you the next day. I could go on…
I am going to get a little metaphysical with you and play devil’s advocate for your old self.
Message from your Old Self
Here is how she feels, “Oh, you are leaving me? Are you kidding me? I have been there for you for the last (insert whatever number you want here) years, and now you think, I am going to go away peacefully? Well, think again, lady.
I am going to give you dreams of delicious pizza, and chocolate so creamy that you want to weep. Oh, that is not working, well here is a muscle spasm or the goddam flu to remind you who’s boss.” Or, “What, you are trying to be punctual, WTH? Hitting the snooze button is such a good idea, we used to do it all the time, stay in bed just for another eight minutes, it is comfortable and warm here.”
“Stay, don’t go, you know where everything is and how everything works, success and greatness is a whole new and scary territory, go on, grab a doughnut.”
And the tale goes on.
Your old self will do whatever it take to gain dominance back, believe me, that is the only logical reason we do what we do when we relapse because believe me there is only temporary joy in the comfort zone, don’t make that kind of temporary something permanent in your life.
How to Step out of your Comfort Zone
Let’s forget the rest of that story and get to the part where you start to fix things. This one took years to figure out but here is the simple remedy; I only say “simple” because it is as simple as you playing the role of the observer in your life.
Playing the Role of the Observer
Playing the Observer involves policing and catching yourself when you are making decisions as your old self when you know exactly what your New Self, your Best Self should do.
This technique requires vigilance, but you have to understand that the only way you can create lasting change in your life is by paying attention and doing something every day.
Okay let me give you the key to your success, read carefully.
When you find yourself doing the things you are trying to change about yourself, like hitting the snooze alarm when you know you should get out of bed, say, “(insert your name here) that is your old self, now get up.” “Hey! That is your old self, now step away from the doors of the Cheesecake Factory.” “That is your old self, get off your ass and go to the gym.”
Boost your confidence and your “I got this” mojo with Jen Sincero’s book You are a Badass.
When you start to acknowledge that it is your old self, turning on the tv, you will turn it off. You just need to do this at least once a day and then watch it grow and grow, and you find yourself living each day as your best self.
Create a Compelling Vision of your Best Self
Now, there are a few things you need to do along with the above technique, it includes a detailed template of your best self, how she thinks, how she lives and how she behaves. It goes without saying that you have to be who you are trying to be to be that person.
Is the future you want more powerful than that show on Netflix? Then turn the TV off and get to work.
As always this post is going longer than I expected, so I say, have a great day, and remember to share your light with the world.
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