Do you ever feel stuck in the same routine, unable to break free and reach your full potential? If so, you might be stuck in your comfort zone. The comfort zone is a psychological state in which you feel safe, in control, and familiar with your surroundings. While it may be tempting to stay in this zone, it can prevent you from growing and achieving your goals.
To break out of the comfort zone, you need to understand the effort zones. The effort zones are the area just outside of your comfort zone where you start feeling slightly uncomfortable. It’s where growth and personal development occur. By expanding your effort zone, you can achieve things you never thought possible.
Understanding the Effort Zones
The easiest to understand the effort zone is to compare it with the sport.
Maybe you have been running for years ! And for you, running a 10 km in one hour each morning is part of your routine. Therefore, this is your comfort zone. This is your starting point. If your objective is to keep doing it … then I strongly believe that simply by keeping the momentum you will achieve it. Day after day. Without leaving your comfort zone.
But this blog is about getting better. If you are reading this article, it’s mostly because you want to get more out of your life. You want to push your limit in order to increase the speed or the distance.
In sport, there are several methods to determine your zones. Some use the VO2 max, your heart rate or your lactate threshold. With one of those methods, we will get 5 effort zones.
The Effort Zones in life
Well… it’s exactly the same except that there is no easy way to determine your zones. But let’s take 2 simple examples :
- One of my objectives for this year is to improve my relationship with my partner
- Another objective is to get a new passive income from my blog
(yes… those are real objectives that I am currently working on… I told you that this blog is also about my own journey and life experiences).
Improve my relationship
I could determine my Effort Zones like below. The effort I will do will be gradual and the idea is to stay as much as possible in Zone 1 and 2. And try to enter from time to time the zone 3 and 4.
- Effort Zone 1:
- I disconnect completely from work at 6pm
- I spend more time with her
- I listen more carefully to my girlfriend
- Effort Zone 2:
- I invite her to the restaurant at least once a week
- I am more spontaneous and invite her to a cinema, bowling, eating an ice cream or a walk at the beach
- I surprise her with a gift
- I show more patience during our disagreements
- Effort Zone 3:
- I practice empathy and understanding
- I communicate openly and honestly
- I tell her more often how beautiful she is and how much I love her
- I organize a travel with her
- I am supportive with her goals and ambitions
- Effort Zone 4:
- I write more often to her mom and share more news
- I propose her
- Effort Zone 5: The Zone 5 is named the Danger Zone. As its name indicates, its a dangerous one so let’s try to avoid it.
Create a new passive income from my blog
- Effort Zone 1:
- Every morning, with my first coffee, I will write some ideas on a paper
- Effort Zone 2:
- Every week, I will write one article about the effort zones
- Effort Zone 3:
- I will share my article with some website or friends
- Effort Zone 4:
- I will take a writing class
- Effort Zone 5:
- I will go to conference and start talking about my blog and my ideas
You understand the ideas?
But the main objective of this blog is that we improve. So… we want to create some habbits.
If every morning, during 21 days, you write some ideas on a paper while taking your coffee, this will become your habit. This will become part of yourself. And soon enough, this is now your Comfort Zone.
Expand your Comfort Zones
In 21 days only, we went from this :
To this :
Do you see the difference ?
The Comfort Zone is bigger. The Effort Zone 1 is further. In 21 days only.
Well yeah… 21 days looks long. But in this blog, I never promised quick revolutionary change in 5 steps. It sells click… but it doesn’t change life.
I want to change your life and for this, I am searching for long-term changes. Some small efforts which become you. You become another, better person. A better version of yourself. And in the end… what is 21 days ? They will pass anyway.
What happens after 21 days ? Well… you have written ideas during 21 days but you have also written 3 articles ! Writing 1 article per week was you effort zone 2. But now that you have done it 3 times, it is not as complicated as it was at the beginning. It’s now your effort zone 1. And if you keep doing it long enought, soon, this is going to happen :
I think you understand my point. Keep doing small efforts every day, every week and they are not efforts anymore. They are habits.
It takes time… and sweat
Yes.. changes require efforts. Especially long-lasting changes.
Don’t be discouraged.
Dream BIG.
Start small.
Begin now.
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