The Unbreakable Mindset
How getting out of the comfort zone can fix your life.
Everyone sooner or later finds themselves sitting in a deep pit. A pit they dig themselves. A pit so deep and with such smooth walls that it becomes next to impossible to climb out of. That pit is called a comfort zone.
We have all heard about the good old comfort zone of ours. The sweet spot where everything seems to be A-OK and there is no form of sorrow or excitement. It’s like the neutral zone where we are at peace and everything seems to be fine.
There’s nothing wrong being in one’s comfort zone. That is why they call it the comfort zone. But there are some of you who want something more in life. There comes a point in this timeline of staying in the comfort zone where things start to seem tedious. That point comes in everyone’s life, no matter what you do, The natural tendency of people wanting more is a signal sent to your brain when you see someone else or something else that you would want to have. This stimulus causes you to desire for more. But to achieve that desire, there is some amount of effort that has to be put in, and effort comes when you start moving out of your comfort zone. The pit.
Sounds easy doesn’t it? If it’s something you have to do yourself and not convince others to do, it’s a great thing right? Wrong.
“Make sure your worst enemy isn’t living between your two ears.”
-Laird Hamilton
Your mind and the comfort zone
Like I said before, effort comes when you start moving out of your comfort zone. When you have to or need to do something you’ve never done before. Run ten laps instead of five. Do 20 push ups instead of 10.Sit for 10 more minutes with that math book.Your mind is a very efficient machine. Involuntarily, it has been trained to keep you away from things that would seem to make you uncomfortable. This is the same reason why you might be nervous or mentally excited when you walk into the woods all alone. Because your mind prepares your body to flee from a possible unexpected wild boar or some sort of other danger. It makes you alert. It is basic human instinct humans haven’t gotten rid of since the Stone Age. But unfortunately we apply these instinct to things that might be good for us as well.
Doing those extra 5 reps would leave us better off, but our mind makes our body hesitate because you have never done 5 extra reps before. It is either out of fear or doubt that you resist. Just like walking alone into the woods. What if I get attacked by a leopard? What if I get mugged by robbers? What if I can’t handle it? We as humans tend to ask these questions because of our “Look before you leap attitude”, which is fair, but unnecessary extrapolation maybe situations is not recommended.
The solution. Your one way ladder out of that pit.
Although this blog is only focused on fitness, you could use this tactic,which I’ve learned personally for anything and any task at all that seems daunting and makes you uncomfortable.
I came across this interview on an online show called Impact theory hosted by well-known entrepreneur Tom Bilyeu, who interviewed established speaker and author Mel Robins. Her book, The 5 second rule, outlines this revolutionary idea that whenever you make a decision, or have a thought of doing something, you have a 5 second window from that point on to quickly act, make your decision and do that thing, before your mind begins to procrastinate. So imagine this. You have the thought about going to the gym and working out, something you don’t do that often .BAM. Five second count down, after which your mind kicks into autopilot, and you ask yourself questions like, “why now, I’ll start tomorrow”, or “But I have to watch this TV show, or go out with my girlfriend”, or whatever. The idea is you have a 5 second window to act upon your idea and get things done.The interview link is below, in case I haven’t covered everything. Do watch it.
Don’t do things according to your feelings. That is the idea of discipline. Do your thing and follow your routine irrespective of how you’re feeling. Your mind is a complex instrument. You might have a bad dream or a fight with a friend. And usually people let that sudden mood swing affect the rest of their routine. But, the magical part is, if you decide to take control of the situation and become indifferent towards your slight mood change and keep things on course, you would get things done and that would also make you mentally stronger and prepared for bigger challenges in the future.
