subject: Motivate Yourself With Comfort Zone Mapping [print this page] Comfort zone mapping is a technique that can help you motivate yourself to take the next step in any area of your life. It works on an incremental basis, meaning rather than trying to get you to a big goal, it focuses on getting you one small step closer to your goals.
Read on to learn exactly what comfort zone mapping is and how it works.
==> Why People Get Stuck in Their Comfort Zone
It's only in the last few thousand years that human beings have consciously decided their lives. For the vast majority of human evolution, people were much like other animals: Reacting in order to maximize their chances of survival.
In nature, stepping outside your comfort zone is dangerous. A bird flying outside of their pattern may lose the pack or get eaten by a predator. In primates, lower class primates who try to rise to a higher class may be killed by an alpha who feels threatened.
As a result of thousands and thousands of years of conditioning, the human brain is designed to stay within an acceptable range of behavior called the comfort zone.
The comfort zone is where your brain knows it will survive. It's ambitious enough that you'll be able to live a good life, but not so ambitious that you risk upsetting the existing balance.
Stepping outside your comfort zone is scary. It's not your fault and you're not alone in having trouble stepping outside your comfort zone. You're literally biologically wired against stepping outside your comfort zone.
==> Mapping Your Comfort Zone
One powerful method of getting yourself outside your comfort zone is through comfort zone mapping. Here's how it works.
Pick one area of your life. Write out everything that feels comfortable in that area of your life. A sure sign that something is comfortable is if it's something you already have or have already done.
Take money for example. If you've been taking home around $3,000 a month for the last 2 years and have consistently had about $8,000 in your savings, then that's about where your comfort zone is.
Next map out where you want to be. For example, if you're an entrepreneur and want to have a networth of $1,000,000, write that down.
That amount is currently very far outside your comfort zone. Most people like to believe that their goals are within their comfort zone; but the truth is that stepping that far outside your comfort zone all in one go simply doesn't work. That's why lottery winners typically lose all their money within 5 years.
The trick is to progressively step forward towards your goals.
Craft a timeline from where you are to where you want to be. The timeline should be as detailed as possible, including projects and actions you'll take to get where you want to go.
Then figure out your exact next step to get towards that goal. That's the only action you need to focus on right now.
Now that you can clearly see your final goal and can see clearly where you're at now, take just the next action you need to take. By clearly defining your goals and comfort zone, you'll be able to see when you're "stuck" in your comfort zone and propel yourself forward instead.
