Tuesday, November 04, 2014

You will need to kick it hard

I remember the scooter I used to drive when I was in my teens. The first one that I learnt my scooter driving on, was a "Vijay Deluxe". And for the scooter to get started in those days, the scooter needed more than a "kick" to get started. There were no buttons or key based ignitions. And I bet you, you would need a similar kick in most of the endeavors of life.


Its 5AM on a chilly winter morning. Rohit had promised himself a walk in the fresh morning air. His weight has been consistently on the higher side, and he knew that sooner or later, this condition is going to create health problems for him. He knows that getting into the habit of a morning walk is the right thing to do. The alarm clock goes off. Rohit hates it while half asleep. After a few alarm beeps, Rohit is dragged into the reality of the morning. He immediately feels that his body needs more rest. He starts to feel the aching legs and the tired mind, though he was comfortably unaware of any such ailment till now.

He has a decision to make. He knows what is the right decision, but he also knows that the right decision is also an extremely uncomfortable one. His mind starts to generate hundreds of excuses at that very moment, which would more than justify him to skip today's morning walk. The low temperatures outside can make him catch cold, a good sleep is the basic ingredient to good health and it does not make sense to lose sleep over a morning walk. There are so many meetings in the office, and a good rest will always help him prepare well. Ah !! Tomorrow, he has to go a little late to the office, and so tomorrow will be the ideal time to start walking. A few days back, when Smita, his wife, went for walk, she did catch cold, Mr Sharma, his neighbor, is still fat, though he has been walking regularly for the last 2 years... and many more. His mind is his friend. It will do whatever it is asked to.

What decision would you take? What decision do you usually take? For most of us, the decision is mostly based on we being in a comfort zone. Getting out into an uncomfortable zone is always difficult, though highly rewarding. To get into that uncomfortable zone, you would need a "kick"  - a very strong reason to drive you. For some of us, the reason could be negative (e.g. serious health issues face us if we do not start immediately), and for many of us, the reason could also be positive (e.g. enrolled for a marathon and excited to practice to finish the race successfully). Whatever be the type of reason - you need a real "strong" reason to give yourself that kick.

Assuming Rohit's kick got him out of the bed, what do you think would happen after that? Well, we all know that now, it is not that difficult to get ready and get out of the house. Once out of the house, it is even easier to start running or jogging. And once you started running or jogging, you only pat yourself on the back and feel so proud and elated of your achievement that day. You just conquered yourself. Just like the scooter kick, where the kick was to get the engine up and running, Rohit's kick got him up and running too, after which to keep going is not that difficult.

And it applies to all walks of life where we want to change our old habits and drive into an uncomfortable but useful zone. We are comfortable sleeping in the early morning, we are comfortable in our jobs though it has stagnated, we are comfortable reading a negative newspaper, we are comfortable watching Television for hours at a stretch, just like the scooter is comfortable standing isolated.

Our reason, our goal, our dream will give us the kick that can push us outside the boundaries of our comfort zone, and into an unknown zone. As soon as we land in the unknown zone and survive there for some time, we realise that it has started to become comfortable. And we move on to a higher zone of uncomfortableness, and also usefulness. The "post kick" satisfaction is immense because of the fact that you have just experienced expanding your comfort zone and realized that the power to do something new, something outside of your comfort zone was already there in you. You just discovered it today.

And that goes on with any new idea, new step that we always wanted to take in life. Executing any new idea is going to push you out of the comfort zone, and if your kick or dream or reason is not big enough, your mind will generate enough excuses to keep you within the comfort zone.

Let your idea, your dream, your reason germinate, nurture it and get into the so called uncomfortable zone where your true happiness lies. Give it a shot. You will enjoy the ride.

Read more : Get out of your Comfort Zone ~ Page 146 ~ Happiness Unlimited.


Cheers

Manoj Arora
Stay happy.... always !!

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