Today I was wishing I had a comfort zone again in my life; I get up and each day I’m not in the same place. This year I decided to get out of my comfort zone and keep moving no matter what. Well some days I wake up sore, tired and wanting to have a familiar routine where I know what to expect.
I spent too many years in my life getting down to a zone of comfort and making a life where I was so in control that I always knew what was coming next. Well getting out of that comfort zone this year was the greatest thing I could have done.
I recall hearing the story from another speaker who told us you need to just do the opposite of what everyone else is doing. I took that advice and decided that if something was not working for me, it was time to change it. That took me from a life in my comfort zone that was making my world smaller and smaller to a life that may seem like it’s out of control. But it’s working; I have things happening that I only dreamed of before. Yes, for those who think I’m already living the dream, I’m making improvements to live a dream that’s even better.
For years, that has been my saying: “I’m living the dream.” I learned to believe it and started to really enjoy where I was in life. I spent more time helping others and less time helping myself. But I still got into a comfort zone where my life was starting to get smaller and smaller. I wanted to do more so I had to get out of that place of comfort and predictability I was in and make some changes.
My brother Ken always used the line: “if you want to change your life, you will have to make some changes.” And he did that. After years of what seemed like a great way for him to earn money working for himself, he went back to school. Ken, like our father went back to school at 40 to get his high school diploma then his Associate and Bachelor degrees and is now working on his MBA in business finance.
Ken is working with some large companies, and in his 40s he was working to land internships where his competition was mostly college-age kids. He made changes that got him out of his comfort zone and moved his life to do something different.
So many people come to me and ask, “How can I live my dream?” What do I have to do to make those changes? Well, start by making yourself a new set of rules that gets you out of that comfort zone. If you want to change, you need to make some changes.
Has your life has gotten you to a comfortable spot? Maybe it’s the income from that job that gives you a comfortable place to live; maybe it’s the home you live in that gives you comfort. If you want to live a dream, you have to make changes that will get you out of a place of comfort. You may look to others like you are living a dream now, but once you have reached a dream or goal, do not set up a permanent home. You need to set new goals and move again.
I remember hearing Robert Schuler talk about building his church. He spoke about writing the book The Peak to Peak Idea. Once you reach a mountaintop, instead of stopping there, you search for a higher one, for a new peak. Then you head down the valley towards that mountain so you can climb the next one.
Today as I was thinking about that speech I heard him make so many years ago. He talked about the struggles he went through in building his church and each point of what seemed like defeat he would go into his office and shut the door and take out his own book to then apply those principles from his book towards reaching the goals he was working towards.
Well the past few weeks have had challenges for me, and I had to pull out my own programs, books and writings to pull myself out and get back to work. Guess we all need to be in a process of growth. Even tonight I worked with another coach in helping her find answers as she worked to find her own direction. We all need to find a path.
So today, find your path. Get out of the comfort zone before it’s too hard to leave; set some new goals, make some new rules to make you change. As Ken would tell me, “If you want change, it’s time to make some changes.”
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dream, to love what you do and those you share life with. Set some rules to make change a part of your life and be the RockStar in your world.
