Has anyone ever said to you, “Figure it out.”?
I know this has happened many times throughout my life. I would be told to “figure it out” when trying new things and when something didn’t go the way I had planned it to go… ”figure it out.”
This had been an unnerving comment more than once in my past. I often wondered why people wouldn’t just tell me what to do so that things could be more expeditious and efficient.
There are many things that I do not have to figure out. I just know how to do certain things. The things I know how to do reside in my comfort zone.
You know the comfort zone, right? It’s that place where you know what to expect… for the most part. Comfort zone is that place where I do not have to put myself out there. Life is all right in the comfort zone… as long as you are willing to compromise on your greatness.
Many people coast throughout life in the comfort zone and find contentment in the usual. If that’s you, you may want to stop reading now.
I dare you to get outside your comfort zone! Yup, I said it. In the words of Nike’, “just do it.” Why? Outside the comfort zone is where your best self resides. Don’t believe me?
Think about Thomas Edison. His comfort zone enabled him to develop the concept of the light bulb. But how many times did he have to go back to the drawing board to make the concept a reality? Edison found 2,000 ways to not make a light bulb… 2,000 ways!
How many times have you tried at your thing? Keep trying, friend, because it’s coming. You only need to find the one way to make it work according to Edison. Thomas Edison figured it out by going beyond the land of comfort and you can too.
So, keep growing and stretching outside the comfort zone because this is when the genius comes.
I’m curious. What keeps us stuck in the comfort zone? It could be several things and I can only begin to speculate. I know for me, fear of failure was a big thing in my past. Oddly enough, fear of unimagined success held me captive, also.
Do you realize that you are meant for a greatness the world has never known however, we get caught up in the mediocre because it feels right?
Trust me, life is not like finding the right pair of jeans that fit in all the right places. Life is more like something to be shaped and molded as you go.
This makes me think of Play-Doh or molding clay. When was the last time you played with Play-Doh or molding clay? Go ahead, get some and begin to shape it and mold it into your creation. Have fun, let your imagination run rampart. And when you have had all the fun and creativity you can take, go ahead, and put it away.
When you take your creation back out later, you may find it needs reshaping or you may decide to create a whole new design. Go for it! You have permission to make it what you want.
You may be wondering, what inspired this blog. Recently, I waited over an hour to attend a local air show with the F-16 Thunderbirds. I waited over an hour to arrive at a parking lot where there was supposed to be buses to transport us to the air field. Upon parking and preparing to leave, I looked up and noticed there were no signs to direct us where to go to find the buses. There were no friendly folks directly foot traffic.
So, guess what… I had to figure it out. The initial feeling of being in a movie where things don’t go so well for the characters passed through me. Then, with ease I told myself, “You can figure this out.” And I did.
Learning to trust myself has become one of the biggest benefits I have received from investing in myself through Yager Training Company’s ECA Level I and II!
~ Amie, Master Coach