Pain Threshhold

LEAVING YOUR COMFORT ZONE

If we want to make improvements in anything we choose - one has to constantly push the boundaries. This means being out of our comfort zone a lot of the time.

It's fear of the unknown that makes us want to stay in a familiar place. Go with what you know, as they say. This is fine to a degree, but I propose that we should be actively learning all the time. If it's the not knowing that makes us feel uncomfortable - we just need to know it to beat the fear. Be it learning a new job, language, visiting a different country/place or training for fitness - we have to keep ourselves away from the easy known path and on to the one of discovery if we want to expand our horizons.

Small Achievements Lead To Bigger Ones 
We have been doing a little morning routine every day that helps prepare the body and mind for the day. Part of the exercise routine includes doing some 1 minute 'planks'. These are relatively easy to hold, but doing three in a row is tougher. The other day, my partner and I missed a set and decided to do six in one go to make up for the ones missed. That was a big decision at the time - suggesting we double what we'd been doing already, seemed too arduous a task! Thing is, once we'd made it to five, the sixth one was really easy compared to how number three had been feeling the day before. This is because we moved the goal. The focus was on six and number three, which was now only half way, flew past as we dug in and pushed towards the final number six. This was an eye-opening revelation.

Don't Underestimate Yourself
We were so surprised at how much easier six planks had been in relation to three that it's now six planks every morning as the norm - and this quota will be re-assessed again as we get used to six over time. This is the right mentality for success and exactly how people who don't push boundaries, get stuck in their ways. They underestimate their potential. Sticking to what we know and do well means we'll never progress and rise above the norm.

Break Habits To Form New Ones
Start small and see what differences can be made by just changing simple everyday tasks, things like - the route you take in every day to work, the places you go to eat and even the clothes you wear. Create new patterns of routine, break cycles of tasks that you do unconsciously every day and try things differently. This will create a more open mindset, free us up to a new way of thinking and put us on a path of discovery away from the comfort zone.