Deja Vu All Over Again
Friday, August 14th, 2009
How many times have you ever heard a speaker say to be a success you have to get out of your comfort zone? Me too. Hundreds of times probably. Several people have pointed out to me recently just how very uninspiring that is though. And you might say it even borders on stupidity. BTW, I’d like to give credit where credit is due, but the only person I can remember pointing that out is the often politically-incorrect, fitness genius and marketing whiz Matt Furey. It’s hard to forget Matt (and there’s a marketing lesson in there if you have ears to hear). Here’s the rub though. Who wants to voluntarily make themselves uncomfortable. Athletes maybe because that mindset has been pounded into them. No pain, no gain, etc. They’re used to it, and they know they’ll usually be in a direct competition where toughness wins. But what average Joe aspires to that? Oh we’ll do it, if we have to, or if the reward is right in front of us, or if we really want something, but most of the time not. It’s not a good recipe for change for most people. The solution though is not to break out of your comfort zone, but to learn to … EXPAND your comfort zone And there’s a relatively easy way built into us to do that. How many times have you ever experienced Deja Vu? Happens to me all the time. I don’t know if it’s from dreams I don’t consciously remember or what, but I do know when I’m in that situation I feel strangely enpowered. It’s like I’ve been here before. Like things are old hat to me. Like, “I can do this.” “Piece of cake.” Well guess what. You can do almost the same thing using your God-given imagination. You can project yourself into situations you’ve never been in beforeand get comfortable with them. You can literally rehearse your future. Say, for example, you had a job interview coming up. You should do your homework and find out as much as you can about the company and their culture, but then sit down, relax body and mind and let the interview play out in your head like a video. Let it be as sensory rich as you can, including sounds, feelings, textures, tastes if a meal is involved, etc. See yourself being as confident as you’ve ever been. See yourself in total command of your responses and being someone only a fool wouldn’t want to hire. And in so doing, guess what? By definition, You’ve EXPANDED your comfort zone. So when you’re in your interview, you will have a huge advantage. And you can use this with just about anything you want to be and do. Change is HARD if you’re only using willpower. But it’s relatively easy when you are shifting the idea of who you are first. Plus change is linear and slow. And there are many stopping places you could decide to quit. In shifting your consciousness though you are making Quantum Leaps. I’ve done both, and Quantum Leaps are much better J. Go Out & Play. To Win. Dean Delker - The Dean of Easy Street P.S. In case you haven’t noticed marketing is changing too. It’s becoming less Darwinian and more cooperative. More based on relationships and win/win situations. Not just as a tactic, but as a lifestyle. Call it the 2012 Factor, the Age of Aquarius, the Millenium or whatever, but the culture of doing business is changing. Everybody’s heard Social Media is hot but most people today are carrying over their old competitive paradigms and trying to make Facebook & Twitter up in their own image. That don’t work so well, my friend, but if you’re humble enough to learn I’ve got a treat for you. http://deandelker.com/soc_media.html 7 f.r.e.e short videos from 2 hot young entrepreneurs, Russell Yermal & Bradley Will, revealing the 7 Deadly Sins of Social Media. They’ve both cut their teeth on this technology and really understand it’s culture. You can’t FAKE your way through Social Media. You’ll stick out like a sore thumb. But you can learn to be real and authentic and begin to have a huge impact at: http://deandelker.com/soc_media.html Grace & Ease