Comfort Zone Or Not?

Needing to make some changes in your life? When one year ends and another one begins, it seems natural to take some time for reflection on where you are and where you want to go.

What goals or dreams are still on the shelf that you are ready to dust off and give a place of honor to making them happen this year?

What habits or character traits bug you the most about yourself?

What areas do you desire to make some changes in this coming year?

The biggest thing stopping you may be fear – of the unknown, the unfamiliar, or shaking things up in your routine, where it’s too easy to go back to the way you’ve always done things, taking the path of least resistance.

But where has that broad path of “least resistance” taken you? The place you want to go, the person you want to be, all come with places of RESISTANCE – that line that seems too hard or scary or unsure about wanting to cross over, but in your heart you know it will make a difference and bring you to a better place.

But somehow, there is still hesitation…resistance…all mixed with a little fear.

Being in your Comfort Zone is really being in a Familiar Zone. It is not necessarily a comfortable place to stay. Your restlessness and desiring of change confirms it. Some have described it as a rut or a coffin with both ends kicked out. Neither sounds very appealing to me! And yet, we all have areas of resistance where we are choosing by default to stay in a Familiar Zone that may be keeping us stuck or paralyzed from taking the actions we know we should.

What would have to happen to get you out of your comfort zone? Do you prefer the painful or the easier, gentler way to get there?

What motivates you to make changes? Are you usually pushed or pulled into new places or seasons in your life?

If you feel you are often pushed into making changes that you didn’t think you wanted or were resisting making, you may get to a new place and realize it really is better and what you actually did want! But all that fear, uncertainty, drama and much kicking and screaming that goes on as you resist, can add more stress than you need to get to a better place.

The other motivator can be much stronger and more joyful. This is where you feel pulled, as if by a magnet, to where you want to go. You are excited (and maybe even a little scared too) by this new place, but you joyfully embrace it. Your energy helps you minimize any setbacks along the way and keeps you moving to your end goal.

You can choose to either be drawn by a grander vision for where you want to be, which feels like a more effortless way. Or you can drag your heels and feel forced to have to change things you didn’t want to make the effort to, but now feel compelled to.

With the magnetizing choice of being pulled toward your goal, you are buoyed up with inner energy bubbling out to propel you. Things seem to serendipitiously fall into place quite often. You are focused on where you’re going and automatically become the person you need to be to get there.

I trust you will choose to be pulled and proactive, not reactive to the circumstances that appear and have to be dealt with. If so, you will want to take some time now to build a vision of what you DO want to move toward in the near future. Write out the vision with all the sensory details of how it will feel to be there, and the person you will have become along the way. Then itemize the big steps that need to happen to get there – as much as you can tell from this perspective. Finally, write what is the NEXT STEP you need to take right now to move you forward to this new place.

Make a habit of focusing on your bigger vision, reviewing the main building block steps, then asking and taking action on the NEXT STEP. One by one you WILL get there! So rejoice and allow yourself to step up and be PULLED FORWARD by your awesome Next Place Vision! Congratulations! You’ve taken a huge first step!