Hi Everyone and happy August,

Firstly, Just a reminder for those wishing to attend my book launch for my soon to be released book, titled: Peace, Power and You, a spiritual ABC for living beyond stress – please remember to book. The launch will be held on 3rd September at Cooroy Library from 10 – 11.30am. Here is the link – http://goo.gl/CkpMZ1 or ph: (07)5329 6555 …

Secondly, I have a small request. With 14,500 books published each day in the US alone, I’m told I need a minimum of 50 reviews, just to be noticed on Amazon. If you can help me out with this I would really appreciate it. If you have access to E-pub or Mobi devices and would like to be one of the first to read my book, please let me know and I will email you a copy right away. Whether you like my book or not, all I ask is for you to give it a short, genuine review on Amazon.
Thank you 🙂

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Wonderfull Living Newsletter

Why it’s important to step out of your comfort zone!

If you’re regularly feeling stressed, anxious, depressed, angry, tired or wired, this newsletter is for you!… Most of us may experience some of these emotions now and again but if you’re experiencing them on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis, it will pay to check your attachment to familiarity and comfort zones.

Let me first say that some routines are necessary (like my daily stretches for pain management). But that doesn’t mean I have to stretch the exact same way at the same time in the same place, every day – that would be tedious! There’s also nothing wrong with feeling comfortable, in fact, it’s rather nice. However, problems are cumulative when we become attached to comfort, routine or familiarity and we stop functioning effectively without them. Or worse, limit ourselves and keep ourselves ‘small’ because of them. People crave familiarity, even though it can give us a false sense of security and belonging. For example, statistics tell us that right across the world, most violence occurs in the home! Yet we go back to our comfort zones even at the detriment of our own health and wellbeing. So why do we do it? Research shows it’s because it’s familiar, it’s comfortable, even if it’s an uncomfortable fit. It’s what we know – what we’ve become accustomed to and commonly (though often unconsciously) chose – in preference to the unknown. It’s also what we’ve ‘learned’ to define ourselves with – even if it hurts us.

Limiting beliefs and habits are life-sucking addictions and drain us of our courage to change a situation and do something different. Comfort zones are limiting in every conceivable way. Even on the open road, where we are today, it’s becoming more and more obvious with this large wave of ‘grey nomad’ culture, the many that flock to or ‘take with them’, their comfort zones! Traveling used to be fun where everyone helped each other out. Now it seems it’s ‘every man for himself’ – it’s become competitive and rather unkind. Perhaps a different face or a different place, but their comfort zones remain the same.

Comfort zones, familiarity and dogmatic routines are killers, they are dangerous and destructive. They kill off any form of creativity, courage and self respect – giving judgment, blame and competitiveness an edge to take and make a natural course in our lives – to the point where we know no different. It becomes so ‘normal’, that we forget that there are easier and less painful ways to live life. I remember having a discussion about decluttering, with a variety of people. Interestingly but not surprisingly, most displayed a form of ‘horror’ at the thought of having to get rid of ‘stuff’. Their clutter was their comfort zone! Emotional nostalgia keeps us stuck, it keeps us afraid and it holds us back from living our best potential. Our perception of life becomes narrow at best and we wonder why life is so ‘hard’…

But it need not be as hard as we believe! Newness gives us freedom. Freedom from limiting beliefs, freedom from self sabotage, freedom from blame and self pity! It doesn’t mean we have to do anything drastically new, we can start with small increments. Stepping out of our comfort zone doesn’t mean we have to put ourselves through unnecessary angst. But we do have to be prepared to be a little bit uncomfortable for a bit to allow something new or fresh in. Allowing ourselves to think differently is a good example and something not too drastic. Opening our mind to new possibilities is a wonderful start. Though we do need to take some positive action towards that new idea, a baby step each day, or it will simply remain a thought – a fearful place from where negative projection happens. Checking and changing our own beliefs is fundamental to help us step out of our self-imposed boundaries of our own limited thinking. You are the Creator of your thoughts, your life. Start creating positive thoughts and positive images in your mind today, then move towards it practically each single day 🙂

Question: Do I regularly take myself out of my comfort zone?

Contemplation: If not, why not? What stops me from trying new ways of thinking, speaking or doing in my life?

Action: Each time you catch yourself saying ‘I can’t’ – tell yourself 3 times, YES I CAN! YES I CAN! YES I CAN! Then simply DO it (providing it’s safe for all concerned of course). Beware to not make any excuses based on irrational fears because it’s all too easy to find ‘good reasons’ why ‘to do’ or ‘not to do’ something. When you start stepping out by focusing on the possibilities (not the impossible) the habit of finding excuses will automatically dissolve over time 🙂