Become Independent of Your Liability Zone

Since Americans are about to celebrate the national Independence Day holiday very soon, I thought this article would be especially appropriate.

Recently, I have encountered people who are in serious need of a positive change in the way they are approaching their lives! I have seen people who are literally letting years pass without either working or preparing for work through training or higher education. It seems to me that I am seeing people placing roadblocks in their own way instead of looking for solutions to their own dilemmas.

The world owes us nothing folks. We all have the good fortune of being Americans where we are free to pursue many positive opportunities.

However, some of what America offers sometimes works against people. This is what I mean. Recently a client honestly confided to me that we “enabled her to be a slacker.” The various governmental assistance programs were meeting all of her immediate life needs. She could not presently visualize any incentive to leave her established comfort zone. Her comfort zone had become her “liability zone.”

It’s time that many of us institute our own “Independence Day.” Let’s become independent of the daily routine in life that is leading us nowhere.

Often what we call procrastination, a lack of motivation or boredom is really just being trapped in the shell of our own comfort zone. Our comfort zone offers a safe haven, a trusted beaten path for us to follow. However the comfort zone can easily become, over time, our liability zone!

Ah, the sweetness of our comfort zones! That cozy place we hang out at that's routine, predicable and safe. From routine "maintenance" activities like getting ready for work in the morning to expressing certain emotions easily to the food we eat, the comfort zone offers a safe haven, a trusted beaten path for us to follow. As long as we stay within that area, we feel secure...we know what to do.

However useful the habit of routine can be for us, the comfort zone can become, over time, our liability zone! When we continue to do the same thing day after day, month after month, we soon find ourselves languishing in a motionless rut. Our actions and reactions become very predicable. Our thinking becomes lethargic and rigid. Our perspective narrows. Our focus blurs. Our energy is low. We are stagnant, stifled and bored. Our creativity comes to a screeching halt. Each day is a carbon copy of yesterday.

Often what you call procrastination, a lack of motivation or boredom is really just being trapped in the shell of your own comfort zone. Like a turtle, you pull inside and stop moving. Stop growing. Stop seeking. You rationalize your position with excuses and justifications and put a limit on it. You lock it up with a "guarantee" that consists of two extremely powerful words: "I can't". You paint yourself into a corner with your fears and inhibitions. You resist change. You avoid risk. Your senses are dull. You may feel as if you are suffocating. You notice the dull ache of emptiness. You feel paralyzed by your fears, real or imagined! Pretty soon, living inside the safety and comfort of your shell, devoid of challenge or change, becomes a habit just like brushing your teeth in the morning or tying your shoes. Easy, effortless, predictable, familiar! You've retired from the excitement and challenge that purposeful living offers. Your comfort zone has become your liability zone!

As W.H. Auden once said, "Home to supper and to bed. Shall we like this when we are dead?"

Ready to come out of retirement? Stick your neck out? Then move out of your "liability zone" today.