How often do YOU find yourself hesitant to start something NEW?
It could be joining a gym YOU have been thinking about and procrastinating for so long.
It might be quitting your current unfulfilling job and finding something YOU are passionate about.
Or it might be going to speak to the person YOU have been wishing to interact with for a long time.
But YOU have never found the courage to get in touch with.
Or even easier, it could be changing the street YOU always take to go from home to work.
In other words, when the time comes to do something different from what we do.
And whenever we try to get out of our COMFORT ZONE, we are stormed by fear and anxiety.
This is completely normal.
Our mind is designed to keep us in a safe environment and situation.
We are confined to our routine habits.
Inevitably anything unknown represents a threat we want to run away from.
This kind of attitude we use most of the time originates from our ancestors’ behavior.
They were in real danger of life most of the time!
Despite many centuries have gone by and dangers are fewer, we still have the same kind of approach.
We still have the fight-flight-freeze response, our body's natural reaction to danger.
We are moved nowadays by irrational fears that originate within our minds.
Fears that stem from the stories we tell ourselves, from our inner dialogue.
What we tell ourselves reinforces our beliefs and inevitably our behaviors.
What happens when we feed irrational fears with negative thoughts and words?
We create barriers between us and the opportunities that life offers us.
I have been held back so many times from doing something that I wanted to do.
Irrational fears such as:
- fear of people’s judgment,
- fear of making a fool of myself,
- fear of not being good enough,
- fear of not living up to somebody else’s expectations,
are only a few kinds of limiting beliefs that had stopped me from daring to dream.
If YOU also experience similar scares and YOU feel unpowered.
I want to assure YOU that with consistency and commitment YOU can master your mind.
And overcome the fears that keep holding YOU back.
I will share with YOU one tool that I have been using for a while.
A ritual that has proved useful when the time of getting out of my COMFORT ZONE comes.
When the subtle voice in my mind tries to sabotage and block me from moving forward.
Before I reveal my technique let me ask YOU:
Have YOU ever watched the movie “Dead Poets Society”?
If YOU haven’t done it, I recommend YOU do it!
This film, which I find enlightening, features Robin Williams as a poetry teacher (John Keating).
He encourages his students to make their lives extraordinary, which he summarizes with the Latin expression “Carpe Diem”, i.e. “Seize the Day”.
When I watched this movie I was impressed by the scene in which Robin William tells his students: “We are food for worms”.
He highlights that our time is limited, life is fleeting and, whether we like it or not, we are doomed to leave this planet one day.
I used to assume that I would live for many years and that I could put everything off till later.
I have realized that this was an excuse, a trap set by my mind to keep me stuck in my secure environment, the cage I had built around myself.
Once I became aware of that, I started asking myself:
What would I do today, if today was my last one?
The perspective that I could die not in 50, 60, or more years, but soon gave me the courage and confidence to act differently and get out of my comfort zone.
Any time I am doubtful about doing something NEW I take these two steps:
- I become aware of my limiting thoughts, irrational fears, and forces,
- I practice a powerful ritual to remind myself not to hesitate from taking action when it's time to pursue my goals.
I apply this “technique” even to less important matters.
Situations like attending a crowded party or going to a new restaurant, phone a former friend, etc.
Trust me it is very effective!
Any time YOU feel afraid, anxious, and hesitant, do follow this advice.
Go to the graveyard and stand in front of the headstones!
This will remind YOU of our limited time.
It will help YOU stop procrastinating and start fighting for whatever YOU want.
If YOU make it a habit YOU will find out HOW your confidence can increase.
YOU will feel courageous every time YOU are called to get out of your comfort zone.
YOU will be aware YOU have nothing to lose, only everything to gain.
For me, this practice has been a game-changer.
It has allowed me to grow and make the most of opportunities that otherwise I would never have spotted.
Or if I had, I would never have had the courage to exploit!
I am curious how it’s going to influence your inner dialogue, your behaviors, and your actions.
Hopefully, it’s going to be the steppingstone from which YOU will start to get in charge of your decisions.
YOU will know that nothing will stop YOU from following your dreams.
I am looking forward to hearing from YOU if and how this technique has affected your life.
“The wealthiest place on the planet is the graveyard because in the graveyard we will find inventions that we were never ever exposed to, ideas, dreams that never became a reality, hopes and aspirations that were never acted upon". - Les Brown
