My friend Binny Brown said to me last week, “As you asked, Vinit, now I have my list of aspirations ready. And I have a burning desire to turn those into reality. But still, after every hiccup I go astray, I become demotivated. What do I do?”
Does that happen to you?
Friends, all of us are meant to fly high in our lives and want to fly high, but then something stops us from growing.
And most of the time, the villain is our comfort zone. We want to fly high, but it’s not easy to break the comfort of our lives that we have got used to. By leaving your comfort zone behind and also taking a leap of faith into something new…something adventurous, you find out who you are truly capable of becoming.
I think there are few critical questions we should ponder to break our comfort zone.
Are you even aware of what's outside the comfort zone?
For example, have you ever thought about how many things you believe you are worth doing but are scared of doing it due to the fear of failures?
Are you ready to be comfortable with discomfort?
Are you scared of walking up to people and introducing yourself in social situations? Why? Is it due to the fact that you are insecure about the sound of your inner voice? Are you troubled about your look? Or, are you afraid of being ignored?
Sometimes, I understand that it takes a while to get comfortable, so do you even attempt different strategies daily, or just maintain it until it becomes comfortable. Have you ever made a goal to avoid running away from discomfort?
Are you afraid of your dreams?
Are you afraid of failing that you would rather not do anything for taking a shot at your dreams. Do you try treating failure as a teacher? Have you ever thought – What did you learn from the failure experience? How can you take that lesson to your next adventure to improve your chance of success?
During a Harvard commencement speech, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling outlined the importance and value of failure. Rowling said, “I had not just failed but failed on an epic range. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded. I was a lone parent, jobless, and as poor as possible in modern Britain without being homeless. By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.”
You read any other successful person, none of them were afraid of failure, are you afraid?
Are you ready to pay the price?
Are you ready to invest at least few thousand, if not millions, in your personal development? I keep investing a lot in my personal development, and every one of them has paid me huge dividends.
The masses are not willing to do this. Are you ready to make sizable investments in yourself so that you can grow? It isn’t only an investment of money; indeed, that’s one of it. It’s also going to be an investment of time.
Are you willing to do what you have to do? Are you ready to change what you have to change? For example, you may have to change your personal appearance; you may have to change your attitude; you may change how you approach people and treat people.
You want to become a great leader, but are you willing to pay the price of being a great follower first. A person can never be an effective leader if they’re not an effective follower. For example, suppose a person cannot follow the direction., how can he ever be a professional at giving directions?
Are you ready to hang out with risk-takers?
If you want to become better at something, you must start hanging out with the people who do what you want to do and emulate them. Almost inevitably, their influence will start to have an effect on your behavior. But they will test your patience. Are you ready for it?
Think of sir Edmund Hillary who went to Nepal to Mount Everest in 1951; it took a lot of preparation. It took a lot of money to get him there, and he failed, and he didn’t just fail; he failed miserably. He didn’t allow his comfort zone to play the games.
He went back again in 1952, and he failed again, but he never let his failures affect him as a person. He didn’t see himself as a failure. He just realized “one way” that he couldn’t get up the mountain, so he went back in 1953. In 1953 again, sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay went to the hill; they were the first two to reach the top of Mount Everest and then come back down alive. He broke all comfort zones, all fears!!
I am so glad to tell you that my friend Binny Brown decided to think through these questions and finally decided to break his comfort zone.
- Will you break the comfort zone by asking yourself?
- Am I even aware of what’s outside the comfort zone?
- Am I ready to be comfortable with discomfort?
- Am I afraid of my dreams?
- Am I ready to pay the price?
- Am I ready to hang out with risk-takers?
And finally,
- Am I ready to break my comfort zone?
The comfort zone is nothing but a graveyard of your dreams & ideas.
Break the comfort zone and unleash your unlimited potential!!!
Thank you!
