Are you ready to change your comfort zones?
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If you will create a new picture of yourself, that picture will work like a magnet that pulls you forward naturally, bringing you into your new comfort zone and allowing you to grow into the life you want to live. When you try to push two magnets together (one representing your comfort zone and one representing your self-image) the polls are aligned, they push each other apart. This is like trying to expand your comfort zone while your self-image remains unchanged. You're trying to push yourself outside of your old comfort zone simply by force.
But if you first change your self-image, the effect is like changing the polls on the magnets so that they attract each other. Your new self-image will pull you forward without the pain, exhaustion, and anxiety you normally feel. The best way to change your self-image is through visualization. Begin by deliberately visualizing the kinds of changes you want in your new self-image.
The more clearly, specifically, and vividly you can imagine the changes and the resulting new self-image, the stronger and more real the pictures at the creative subconscious level will become. Once your subconscious accepts this new image and expectation, it will then go to work to make the new image a reality.
As your reality or self-image changes, your comfort zone changes automatically. Be aware that when your comfort zone changes you will find yourself in an environment that used to be your old world but in which you now feel out of place.
Setting a goal and programming it into your reality structure has the positive effect of creating a magnetic tension in your system. It turns on creative ideas and releases drive, energy, and motivation, and it broadens your awareness of opportunities that will help you attain your goals. It's just like the old phrase you've heard: whatever your mind can conceive and believe, you can achieve.
Here are some specific steps you can follow to expand your comfort zones:
- Get in your mind a clear and specific picture of the new self-image you want: the new attitude, behavior, or skill. For example, if you want to change your self-image from that of a nervous and ineffective public speaker to that of a relaxed and confident speaker, then picture yourself easily delivering speeches in a relaxed, confident, and effective way. Include details in your picture, including how you will feel walking to the winner's circle or podium, and how you will sound as you deliver the speech.
- In your mind, clarify exactly what needs to be done to achieve this goal, in terms of your time, your money, your effort, and your risk. Identify the possible temporary setbacks that might need to be overcome. Again, clarify exactly what is required for preparing a great speech: the gathering of facts, the rehearsal, and any lessons or coaching needed.
- Picture yourself actually experiencing the end result of your new self-image and behaving in your new comfort zone. See yourself in the alley lane being focused. Repeat this entire experience to perfection over and over in your mind's eye, many times. Eliminate careless comments such as "it seems like every I race, I am hundredths of a second too slow, or just miss winning in a division." Or "what else could possibly go wrong?" Or "it's so frustrating to just keep missing a win."
You might be thinking you need to pick up three hundredths of a second in performance – and that could very well make the difference in winning. However, you can help yourself tremendously, by expanding your comfort zones and changing your self-image, with the help of your self-talk, and you will begin to accomplish the positive changes you truly do want in your life both in and out of the arena.