We’ve all seen it. We all expect it. Every time we usher in a new year, we see lots of folks writing down new year’s resolutions and declaring that this year will be different only to see them go back to where they started at the end of the year.
People usually start the year with the right intentions, the right motivations, and even the right actions, however, a few months (or even just weeks) after, we see them sliding back into their former state.
What went wrong? They were off to a good start. How did they end up back in square one?
The Comfort Zone Dilemma
Most people fail to succeed at their personal conquests because the challenges along the way prove to be inconvenient to them. Anything that causes someone to be inconvenienced and taken out of their comfort zone is threatening.
As human beings, we are all comfortable with the familiar. We like it that way. This is why a lot of people settle for the mediocre because it takes a lot of effort to get out of their comfort zone. We like the comfortable. We love the familiar. This is how most of us are wired today.
Think about it. All the advancements and progress we’ve made are brought about by a desire to make things more comfortable and to make living a lot easier. Technology has made life more convenient for us, especially how it “digitized” a lot of things. Smart homes, e-commerce, home-based online work, and all other similar concepts aim to make life easy.
This is why new year’s resolutions don’t work. They give a lot of incentives for us to call it quits.
Breaking Out of the Comfort Zone
Somebody once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Truer words have never been said. We can only experience breakthroughs if we learn to break out of our comfort zones.
If you want a job that pays better, you have to either improve your skillset or learn new things and add to it. You have to do more to get more. You have to invest time, resources, and lots of energy to developing those skills that employers want.
If you want to get married and start a family, you have to get over the trauma of past relationships and accept that love will never be perfect. Say “yes” to that nice guy asking you out on a date in Georgia. Get down on your knees, propose to her, and get those custom wedding rings from Salt Lake City and marry the love of your life. It doesn’t have to be perfect; you just have to love them wholeheartedly.
If you want to be debt-free, stop living your life beyond your financial capacity. Stop spending money on a whim. Face the mirror and tell that person looking back at you it’s time to cut down on spending and live way below your means. Gradually pay off your debts from the least to the greatest. Manage your finances well. Cut down on spending and save more.
Whatever it is you want, you have to face the reality that change is never meant to be easy. A lot of times, you need to step out of your comfort zone to get you to a place of better comfort.
At the end of the day, if you want to change your life and get different results, you have to start doing things differently. If you keep living your life the way you’re living it now, chances are, you will still be in the same state at the end of the year. Dare to be different. Go against the flow.
