subject: The Metaphor Of The Thermostat [print this page] There's a metaphor in the self-development field which really is spot on when you look at it. It's the metaphor of the thermostat, and that thermostat represents your subconscious mind.
How a thermostat works in an office building or in your home is that it's presumably set to detect when the temperature gets uncomfortable, in two ways. You define the exact temperature that's uncomfortable-you, the operator. When the temperature gets uncomfortably cold, the heater kicks on, to bring the temperature back up to the range that the thermostat is set on.
Now, when the temperature gets uncomfortably warm, the thermostat works the other way. It turns the air conditioner on and it cools the building. And as the heater does, when it gets the temperature into that range, the AC unit shuts down and everything's fine and you're content-until the temperature moves out of that range, either higher or lower, outside the comfort zone.
If the thermostat represents your subconscious mind, we've got the comfort zone, we've got the operator, we've got the ability to adjust the temperature. The problem is, if you're accustomed to living in your comfort zone-and you certainly are-going outside a certain "temperature range" would put you outside your comfort zone.
And your subconscious wants to trigger off and bring about the circumstances necessary to bring you back into the comfort zone-have you cause them, have them come into your life, one way or the other. It's always the self-fulfilling prophecy and the Law of Attraction or both. You've got to watch those vibes, baby!
So you're going to have to actually have some discipline, to actually know that, for the reasons you've decided, when your comfort zone indicators go off, well, you've changed the thermostat! And you'll extreme sport your way through the challenge, no matter what it takes!
Of course, you may be "feeling" one way, but now you know science has got it under control. You've decided what to do, you've set the range of temperature differently now, and so if you first feel uncomfortable, well, it's all right. You're feeling a temperature that hasn't been part of your normal existence.
I'm not saying you've never felt it before, because your comfort zone indicators were set to click on then. What I'm saying is, when you begin to do something that you've rationalized, discovered, scientifically analyzed, and received on good advice is correct for you, and when you take your first steps into that new world, and it feels odd, and it feels wrong, that's okay-remember, you're outside your old comfort zone.
But you are the operator, and you have made a strategic decision-for whatever reason-that it's going to be a new way. And you are going to hold to it. And guess what? Soon, this new level of expectation of demand on yourself, of wealth creation, is going to be expected. That's going to be your new comfort zone.
Now, isn't that what it's really all about? Find a mentor, find and apply the teachings, and you'll find that you have created, with discipline of course, driven by desire, driven by passion, a new comfort zone-the zone that you now envision and desire with all your heart.
