Time for a Jail Break!

A little while back I had the pleasure of listening to a motivational talk from a great guy who has completely turned his life around from a tragic and horribly messy beginning, to a very happy and successful one.

Part of his story is that he spent time in prison for drugs offences, and he talked about how most of us will struggle to comprehend just what it’s like to be ‘locked up’.

I’ve never spent any time in jail and I don’t ever expect to, and I’m sure you’re the same. For us, it would be almost impossible to understand how it feels to be behind bars. To be unable to go where you want to go, to be with who you want to be with, to do what you want to do, to simply be in control of your own life.

And yet, many people go through their lives in a prison of their own making!

In their minds, often subconsciously, they have created invisible bars that might as well be real because they are preventing themselves from being, doing and having what they really want from life.

I think this perfectly describes our comfort zone. A self-imposed prison cell that has got all of the discomfort we might associate with being in a real prison.

Inside a comfort zone really is an uncomfortable place to live. It is generally full of regret, remorse, frustration and self-judgement for all of the things we are not achieving because we aren’t prepared to step out and do what we know it’s going to take to get what we want.

And yet we still stay – why?

The door is not locked, there are no bars, there are no guards, we have no sentence to serve.

In theory, we are free to leave any time we want to, but something inside us keeps us locked up.

The trouble with a comfort zone is just that – it’s comfortable. It’s familiar and safe, we know what to expect and we feel in control.

Outside it is the scary unknown, where we aren’t as sure of ourselves, where there’s risk, and where we might be forced to face our fears. Aargh –panic!!!!

But if we allow ourselves to stay safe and comfy inside our self-imposed prison cell, we will not be challenged, we will not experience personal growth, and we won’t achieve what we are really capable of.

Now that’s criminal!

“Nobody ever died of discomfort, yet living in the name of comfort has killed more ideas, more opportunities, more actions, and more growth than everything else combined. Comfort kills!”
– T. Harv Eker

So it’s time for a Jail Break.

It’s time to get adopt some attitude, give the mind mischief a bashing and set yourself free.

It’s time to push your boundaries and prove to yourself that life outside your imaginary prison cell is not as scary as you imagine it to be.

When you do, you’ll soon realise that what was once the unknown and frightening just isn’t anymore, and you will wonder why you stayed so long!

And you don’t need to go that far out to feel a big difference. Even just a little way out, could be the breakthrough that you’ve been looking for.

There isn’t anything more satisfying than to finally, finally, do something, feel something, achieve something that you have been avoiding for a long period of time.

It’s amazing the difference it makes to how you feel about yourself and to what you then feel is possible for you.

Make that one little breakthrough and the rest will start to flow.

Here’s a little poem I found that sums it up beautifully …

I used to have a comfort zone where I knew I wouldn’t fail.
The same four walls and busywork were really more like jail.
I longed so much to do the things I’d never done before,
But stayed inside my comfort zone and paced the same old floor.

I said it didn’t matter that I wasn’t doing much.
I said I didn’t care for things like commission checks and such.
I claimed to be so busy with the things inside the zone,
But deep inside I longed for something special of my own.

I couldn’t let my life go by just watching others win.
I held my breath; I stepped outside and let the change begin.
I took a step and with new strength I’d never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone goodbye and closed and locked the door.

If you’re in a comfort zone, afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were at one time filled with doubt.
A step or two and words of praise can make your dreams come true.
Reach for your future with a smile; success is there for you!

Author Unknown

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