What Keeps Most People Stuck In An Average Life?
This is hardly a new thing to ask; it’s a question that’s been around for as long as people have existed. Some of the best thinkers over the centuries have looked at the factors that hold us back - the part of human nature that limits our achievements in life.
It’s an instinctive safety mechanism. It’s been called many things over the years - but basically it’s what we all know as fear. You’ll be familiar with the ‘fight or flight’ reaction, a vital tool for the early man. At its most basic level, it’s what makes us instantly react when someone jumps out at us!
We all have a comfort zone and when we step out of it, or danger comes into it, we experience an adrenaline rush enabling us to fight or run away. Our natural default setting is to run and get back into our comfort zone as quickly as possible. We log the experience in our brain as it was very uncomfortable and programme ourselves not to do it again.
But as we don’t have to worry about being eaten by sabre tooth tigers these days, most fear is imaginary. F.E.A.R = False Evidence Appearing Real. We’re brilliant at imagining the worst that could happen, even though 99.99% of the time it never does. On the other hand, we spend very little time imagining the best that could happen, yet evidence suggests that the few who do visualise their success are much more likely to achieve it.
Society has been encouraging fear for years. Ruling leaders, both political and religious, have used fear as a tool to keep control over the ages, keeping society in line. When you were little, your mum probably used it on more than one occasion! The truth is, we have a choice - between feeling the fear and do it anyway, or whimpering back and staying average.
Any improvement you want to make will involve change. If you want to change some things in your life you have to change some things in your life - that sounds like a riddle, but in fact it just means no problem can be solved at the same level of thinking that caused it.
Anything big enough to make a worthwhile change will inevitably involve doing something different and taking you out of your comfort zone, so it stands to reason you’ll feel uncomfortable about the action needed. People who stay average resist change because ‘it didn’t feel right’. People who move on know they’ll feel uncomfortable but push through the feeling and do it anyway.
Start with small changes that are outside of your comfort zone. That zone gradually gets bigger as you start to build your confidence. List the positives and negatives of any action - objective analysis helps you to break down the fear.
As Shakespeare said, “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.” Don’t let your fears and doubts rob you of the good things in life.
Comments
Leave a Reply