Summary: Podcast Note: Podcast name has changed to The Successful Life Mindset. Breaking Free From Your Comfort Zone We all have comfort zones. At one time or another, we all go back to our comfort zones even if we have moved past that in general. Tracy told the story of a farmer that owned prize horses. One day a fire broke out in the barn. He rushed in and released all the horses from their stall to save them, but some of them were so traumatized by the fire that they ran back into the barn and lost their lives because the barn was their familiar place; their safe place. People can be like the horses. Identifying and Leaving Your Comfort Zone Sometimes we stay in the comfort zone and never leave or we return to it because of our fear of the unknown. When we feel we are under attack or under pressure in our lives, we head for the comfort zone. As scary as leaving the zone can be, it is often accompanied by a rush of excitement at the same time. When we step out, we realize how much we need God. We find new comfort zones along the way, but we must keep moving forward if we expect to live our lives to their fullest. Our job, even if we hate it, can be a comfort zone of security. Relationships can also be a comfort zone. We make up all types of excuses to stay where we are, but if we never find that passion; that thing that drives us and move toward that, we never be completely happy with our lives. Leaving Your Comfort Zone Requires Change Cliff was added as a member of a podcasting group. He was asked to post his views of how to achieve success. One member of the group was quite negative and posted his dislike of people, such as Cliff, that say things are possible when they aren’t. Cliff decided, since the entire group was reading these things, he should explain what worked for him and why. He shared his passion, the importance of thinking positively, dreaming big, finding your purpose and more. About two weeks later the man with the negative attitude asked for advice for his business. The first thing Cliff noticed was the name of the man’s podcast was as negative as his thought patterns. Cliff suggested he change the name. The man also said he didn’t want to have products or services and didn’t want to do any marketing. The man just wanted to be on the mic and have fun. Our lives are a culmination of the choices we’ve made in life up to now. If you want to be successful in business, you must choose to market yourself, even if you don’t have products and services. You must bring value to your clients; value they are willing to pay for. We are all self-employed; it is simply a matter of how many clients we have. If you work for a company, you have one client. If you are self-employed, you can have many clients. Believe It's Possible and Take Action Cliff’s journey to leave his comfort zone was started by the comments of others. He vocalized his unhappiness at his current career and how he wanted to be a full-time podcaster. A listener gave him ideas of how that could happen and he shared those ideas with his wife. Multiple people gave him the same types of advice and made the suggestion he quit his job and go for the dream. He shared these things with his wife too. Eventually, she told him she agreed. He should leave the comfort zone and go for it. Once she believed it could happen, he decided to do it. If you set goals and fail to meet them, adjust the goals and move forward trying again. Fail fast; fail often; keep trying! Tracy told the story of a man named Steve Prefontaine that couldn’t allow himself to be outrun by anyone. His mind needed to win every race or he would be left with a negative image and might not be able to keep his winning mentality. Steve once said, “Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it." That’s just the kind of person he is. Our battle is in our mind. A comfort zone is a false protector of fear.
