Personally, I’m not motivated by fear – I’m motivated by breaking down fear and seeing it as an illusion. Recognising fear as an invisible barrier, often thought based and transcending it.
If you look closely, what drives you is almost certainly reaching the other side of the barrier; moving beyond fear and conquering your doubts. Fear isn’t the motivating force – the motivator I feel, is finding the answer to fear; breaking fear down, uncovering it as an illusion, moving beyond it. Fear often appears to be the cause of progress yet the true shift is finding the antidote. The “something” you discover after uncertainty.
To a degree, I feel comfort zones are a bit of a myth. What happens when you step outside your “comfort zone”? What are you aiming at – another comfort zone? Are comfort zones stepping stones? Are you reaching from one comfort zone through fear to another comfort zone?
The challenge is of course to better yourself and that does not, in my opinion, require unnecessary pressure; only encouragement and motivation. If fear drives you – if it works for you, great, stick with it. I do wonder however if you were to look deeper whether you will find it is accomplishing the goal rather than frightening yourself into action that makes you perform.
You can aim at a new goal without punishing yourself, in fact, I feel you are more likely to reach your target if you move confidently and positively towards it.
Athletes get into “the zone”. Not a comfort zone – a focus zone. The idea of moving out of a comfort zone sounds like you need to enter a discomfort zone, so perhaps we need a new zone? An improvement zone.
“I am working on an improvement zone” sounds less painful, more achievable, positive, inspiring. Something to strive for, rather than fear. You could be moving out of the comfort zone, through the flow zone, into the improvement zone.
I wrote this at 2.45 am. I wasn’t battling a comfort zone; I was heading towards an improvement zone. It wasn’t planned. I simply woke up and the need to scribble outweighed the need to sleep! Something wanted to be written. You might call it a “flow zone”. I had entered a flow zone; it can happen anytime!
Although it works in many arenas, I feel the phrase “comfort zone” has had it’s time – it suggests laziness, procrastination, lack of motivation to extend oneself beyond the known. I’ve suggested improvement zone although there may well be many others. A couple of examples:
- Achievement zone
- Goal zone
What other zones might you be able to invent as a positive goal orientation?
Instead of focusing on a so called “comfort zone” – what zone could you AIM at, so that the focus is on the achievement, the solution, the win?
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