As a human being, our internal instincts have developed many fundamental ways to protect us, no matter what the situation may be.

One of these systems is our use of habits. Whether good or bad, in times of stress or uncertainty, our bodies automatically shift into a type of overdrive that keeps us doing the same things over and over.

When you couple these often subconscious habitual activities together with our natural level of comfort zone, it is very easy to see why some people’s lives tend to drift along without too much changing, unless they are forced to change due to circumstances out of their control.Darlene Mathieson

They rut that we can often find ourselves in is best described by Albert Einstein:

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Living Inside Your Comfort Zone

It is very easy to live within your comfort zone. In fact, most of us do this subconsciously every day. You know… doing the same things we always do, and therefore getting the same results.

Often we think about changing things, and can start off with a hiss and a roar, but things slowly drift back to how they were, without us really being aware or knowing why. This also occurs when we are too afraid to change or to try something new. Yes, it’s called the comfort zone for a reason, but I like to call it the Comfort Couch.

Alan Alder also shared a great insight:

“You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you’re doing. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself.”

Once again, this is as true in life as it is in business.

Get In The Driver’s Seat

One of my passions is competing in motorsport, so for me it’s like driving a new racing car. When you take it out for your first time it feels incredibly fast, and you struggle to keep the car on the track. As a few races go by, you start to get the car completely under control.

More time goes by, and you find that you’re pushing the car as hard as you can, and the next thing you know, the rev’ limiter* starts kicking in on the straights. (*The rev’ limiter restricts the maximum revolution speed of your engine, which helps to protect it and prolong its life).

This is exactly how your subconscious is wired – to protect and prolong your life. Welcome to your comfort zone. Consciously, you have the desire to go quicker, but subconsciously, you sabotage yourself because your need to ‘play it safe’ is stronger than your desire to win. Suddenly you wish things were going a lot quicker (your car, your goals), but you have to actively change some of your actions to achieve this.

When you do put yourself out there on the edge, your skills will increase and grow to match the situations that you put yourself in. Things SHOULD scare you once in a while, to make you find out who you really are, and to show you that you are capable of so much more than you realise.

Article by Darlene Mathieson