On Saturday morning, 10th May, my friend Maxine called me and asked if I could do her a favour. I said it depends on the favour and we laughed. She needed help distributing political leaflets as the local and European elections are only weeks away. At the time I was sitting at my computer wracking my brain trying to decide what to write about in my weekly article with little success. So, I decided that it was an opportunity to take a break and get some fresh air. We agreed to meet at 2pm and as we were distributing the leaflets an idea came regarding the article as I kept noticing that I was learning many valuable lessons from the experience. So hereis the article
Lesson one: You are growing, if you're stepping out of your comfort zone
As I walked up the road to her house I had 'decision remorse'. Do you get that too? I thought, Rosaleen, are you crazy? You hate the thought of leafleting. And then I started to wonder where that limiting belief came from. There are, of course, all the letter boxes with 'No junk mail' written on them to combat and what I've read and seen in the media regarding nuisance sales calls and my sister's voice complaining about the waste of paper and the hassle of having to put it all in the recycle bin. These were all lurking in my subconscious mind – conditioning from people around me, the media and society generally. Now, I don't actually buy into the junk mail thinking because what's junk to one person is valuable information to another. So I reframed the whole thing and decided that what we were doing was providing valuable information to help potential voters make/confirm a decision about who to vote for.
In addition, I was moving out of my comfort zone and growing. Remember, when you do something new and consistently take action your brain creates new circuitry which gets stronger the more you engage in the activity until it becomes a habit and no longer scary. So I said this to my friend and happily went about putting the leaflets through letter boxes.
So, what can you do to step out of your comfort zone and grow both personally and professionally? Where are you stuck perhaps because you are sticking to the comfort of doing what you've always done and it's too scary to try something different? Choose one thing that you can do to extend your range of motion out of your comfort zone and get safely uncomfortable as you learn something new. Start with a small step.
If you never say anything in a meeting, perhaps you can ask a relevant question in your next meeting, even if you feel afraid, and not worry about the fear or what others will think you about.
Or, try an exercise class/activity you haven't done before and you think you will dislike.
Or, sign up for a class and learn something that will extend your mental range of motion.
Or, walk in the rain if you don't like to get wet...
Get creative! Examine your habits and choose one easy thing that you can do now to step out of your comfort zone and grow.
Lesson Two: Are you struggling To Do It Alone?
My friend knew that it would be faster, easier and more motivating to distribute the leaflets with help, so she asked for help. Sometimes we try to do things alone that can be accomplished more quickly if we seek help. This is why professional athletes have coaches for example. When you have a coach and or mentor it helps to speed up the achievement of an outcome and you are held accountable. There is no hanging around in your comfort zone making excuses. I hear a lot of excuses as reasons all the time... I'm too busy; I don't have the time, when something happens then I'll do it, I'm too old...but, but, but,... (Yawn!)
No one achieves anything alone. In hand analysis for instance some people have a heart line that shows that they are a 'Big Heart'. They express their feelings by nurturing, caring for and being there for others. Feeling connected to others is really important. However, this can mean that they try to do it all alone e.g. spending all day singlehandedly cooking Christmas dinner and refusing help, then feeling hacked off, resentful and burning out from giving too much. If you are a 'Big Heart', I'm sure this resonates.
How well do you delegate? If you want to achieve something consider the support and/or resources that you will need and ask for help.
Lesson Three: Create a System or Process to Help You
As I was walking to my friend's house, I wondered what system she used for distributing the leaflets. I thought maybe I would do one side of the road and she would do the other. So as we set off, I asked her. The system she uses is that she would do one house and I the next and so we would continue until we finish. This system worked beautifully. We were able to keep talking and motivating each other, especially in the moments when our enthusiasm for the task was waning. When I ran out of leaflets, it was easy to get more from her. We could laugh together as we got wet; get tips on how not to end up with a bruised, red thumb from trying to put leaflets through letter boxes with tight draught protectors. What to do when a letter box was blue-tacked down etc. Time passed really quickly and we were finished in only 75 minutes.
What systems do you use to work more effectively? Do you work better in the mornings or afternoons? How can you organise your workload so that important work gets done when you are most alert?
The information in your hands tells you about your living system; how organised you are, how you think, express feelings...It's information that can help you to be more effective in everyday life. After all, your brain is responsible for imprinting the information there.
If you want to discover more then click here for the Taster Hand Analysis Seminar on Saturday, 17th May.
Lesson Four: Persistence and Perseverance
As we set off to distribute the leaflets it started to drizzle a bit so I borrowed a hat from my friend. Well, within 5 minutes the rain was coming down faster and it was really windy so the umbrella was useless and about 15 minutes into the leaflet distribution it was bucketing down. We were the only ones on the street. And do you know what we did? Yes, you guessed, we kept going. Admittedly the thought did cross my mind to nip back to Maxine's house and wait out the rain but we were already wet and so continued.
Life will present you with obstacles and challenges often as a test to see how much conviction, stamina and perseverance you have. If you try just one thing to solve an issue, you may not get the results that you desire. Often patience is required. Major challenges and frustration in our lives demand taking persistent action and exploring and using/trying multiple options.
Challenges also demand awareness and acceptance that this is how things are now without the mind racing off and conjuring up multiple unreal and often negative consequences (unknown future) or dwelling on what created the problem in the first place, including blaming yourself or others (focusing on the past).
A better course of action is to bring 'presence' to the challenge, be in the moment with it, remove the drama, decide what needs to happen from a place of calmness and awareness. These are skills that you can develop through meditation, inner exploration and alert awareness (mindfulness) practices. Look at your challenge, struggle or problem and tell yourself that it's like this now, you're taking action to make it better and be okay with it moment by moment as you take action. Often the challenge or suffering is there to make you pay attention to something, to make you learn something, to make you grow, to make you appreciate your life more, to make you take a calcualted, planned risk and leave your comfort zone.
If you would like to learn simple meditation and mindfulness techniques that you can incorporate into your daily life, look out for more information this week on the upcoming
one-day MEDITATION WORKSHOP: Saturday 14th June, 2014, 11.00am-4.30pm in Chelsea, London SW1
Make a note in your diary. We'll help you to discover how to focus inwards using meditation, mindful-awareness and inner energy presence. You'll connect with your inner peace; there'll be gentle yoga stretches to free your body and increase your mindful-body awareness. You'll discover how to become more present and by journeying inwards cultivate a quieter mind. There'll be Kundalini yoga practices, artwork and more. Join us and discover how to connect to your inner, mind-free, essence. More details are coming this week!
