Perhaps the best explanation you can find for “comfort zone” is from Wikipedia. It defines comfort zone as follow…

“A comfort zone denotes that limited set of behaviors that a person will engage without becoming anxious. Alternatively denoted as a “plateau” it describes that set of behaviors that have become comfortable, without creating a sense of risk. A person’s personality can be described by his or her comfort zones. Highly successful persons may routinely step outside their comfort zones, to accomplish what they wish.” - quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_zone

If you have a house and family to go home to and you have a job that can support your daily basic necessities, it’s ok to feel comfortable. However, you must always keep your 3rd eye open to the never-stopping of movements and changes of the world. The comfort zone can become the danger zone when you’re stuck in it persistently even though you know that there is a better alternative.

The danger is that when you’re deeply engraved in your comfort zone, you’re mentally conditioned to feel safe without realizing that you’re actually staying in a grave zone. This condition is best described by the following frog-boiling story…

It has been said that if a frog is threw into a container of boiling water, it will instantly jump out of the boiling water. But, if it is placed into a container of cold water, it liked it and stayed in the container. When the heat was turned on at the bottom of the container and the water get warmer, the frog felt comfortable and relaxed and even took a nap. The frog was so comfortable that it stayed in the container until it was “cooked”.

Most people are in the “comfort zone” and they prefer to stay there because it feels safe. Like the boiling frog in the story, we refuse to get out of our comfort zone and prefer to stay where we are because we feel warm and comfortable. We become unaware of the gradual shift of our comfort zone to danger zone. Remember that there is no such thing as “staying where we are”, because by nature things are evolving and changing. If we are always staying where we are, that means we’re not moving ahead in life. And if we’re not moving ahead, according to the law of nature, we’re actually moving in the opposite direction… to the danger zone!

danger of comfort zone, get out of comfort zone

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Successful people have a strong vision, it helps them to see and visualize something that most people can’t. They also have a strong belief, this allows them to bring out their passions. And of course they have the courage to take massive actions! They understand that only through actions that they can realize their vision and belief.

Taking actions to realize your dreams require courage and strong determination! Have you heard of the four-minute mile story?

For thousand of years, people believed that it was impossible for a human being to run the mile in less than four minutes. Scientists and experts declared that there was no way, a man could run a mile under four minutes. They said that if any person should try, “His heart will jump right out of his body”. This barrier of belief continued until a man by the name of Roger Bannister broke it.

Roger Bannister believed in himself and he had the courage to take actions to prove his belief. He went through a massive and systematic training program and in 1954 he ran the mile in less than four minutes. The ‘barrier of belief’ that human couldn’t run a mile under 4 minutes was finally broken, and within one year later, 37 other runners also broke the barrier.

What is the morale of the story? Roger Bannister, chose to believe in himself. He strongly believed about the possibility of the 4 minute mile. He visualized himself breaking the 4 minute barrier, and he had the courage to go through a tough training program to get into shape physically and mentally. The greatest quality of his breakthrough was what it did for others. If Roger Bannister can do it, so can we!

Barriers and obstacles will always come between you and success. But, with strong vision, belief and the courage to take actions will break through all barriers.

components of success, ingredients for success, recipe of success, roger bannister 4 minute mile

Hope is the fuel that keeps people going and moving ahead when things get rough. Where there is hope, there is spirit of winning. If there is no hope, people will perish. In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl pointed out that during his days in the Nazi’s concentration camp, those Prisoners of War who did not have any hope for anything would soon get seriously ill and die. On the other hand those who have hope, do survive and live on until the day of their freedom.

If you want to know how to inspire and instill hope to your team, take a look at how the Liverpool Football fans support their team. Just sit in front of your television and watch the fans sing “You will not walk alone”, you will also get inspired by them

Take a look…

When you walk through a storm
Hold your chin up high
And don’t be afraid of the dark.
At the end of a storm
Is a golden sky
And the sweet, silver song of a lark.

Walk on, through the wind,
Walk on, through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,
And you’ll never walk alone,
You’ll never walk alone.

hope inspire dream, inspire hope

Motivation is key to attaining your goals. A person without motivation is like a car that is running out of gas. If you can’t get excited and motivated by your goals and success, then achieving anything you want in your life can become a drudgery. There will always be challenges and obstacles stand between you and your goals, without self-motivation, you simpy can’t overcome the challenges that obstruct your ways.

Here are six tips to help motivate yourself to succeed:

1. Be Positive  

Start with a positive mindset and attitude. When you’re feeling positive and have a happy outlook, you will emit a positive aura and vibration. You will feel like anything is possible. It requires the same amount of energy to think positive or negative, so why not choose to think and feel positive instead? Thinking and feeling positive will open yourself to many possibilities.

2. Write Down Your Goals And Make It Visual

It is helpful to have written and visual goals. Whatever that is you want, make it visual. It maybe something material like a car. Cut out a picture of it and post it at a conspicuous place at work or at home where you can see it often. This can serve as a motivator when you have bad moments and feel discouraged, it will remind you of your goal and help you to stay focused.

3. Reward Yourself

If you’ve ever worked with children, you know that bribes can be a great motivator. For example, “Finish your homeworks early and we will go to see a movie tonight”.  “Clean your room and we’ll stroll the park soon”.  As an adult, we tend to drop this habit. We just do the work because we’re supposed to, or maybe we don’t do the work at all because there’s no fun in it. So why not add the fun by rewarding yourself for your success? For example, after a successful accomplishment of a task, treat yourself a great movie. This can give you the extra push to carry on, and is essential in keeping yourself motivated, you must learn to find a way to motivate yourself through a personal reward.

4. Friends  

Friends can make goal setting and achieving fun, they can also join you in your goal. For example, if you’re looking to add exercise to your routine, you can join a gym with friends, or just meet each morning for a brisk walk. Now you’re both getting healthy, and on the days when you’re not feeling like working out, knowing your friend is waiting for you and depending on you will motivate you to get going.

5. Record your successes  

Journaling is a great tool to track how you’re feeling. It can be even more motivating if you journal your successes. By recording your successes, when you’re having a difficult day, you can open your journal and read your success entries. Remembering what it felt like to succeed will help to motivate you through the tough days. Today, you can even journal your activities or successes online using a blog (or an electronic journal). But remember that journaling your activities online using a blog can be seen by the public over the Internet. If this is appealing to you, just go to www.blogger.com to create your FREE account. Using blogger is very easy, if you know how to use email and word processor, you will figure out how to blog very quickly.

6. Read self-improvement and inspirational books

These will help you improve your mindset and attitude. A book of success stories can inspire and uplift your spirit. Learning from others’ experiences can help to boost your confidence and motivate youself to go for your goals.

how to motivate yourself, motivation articles, motivation strategies, motivation techniques, ways to motivate

Every successful person knows how to use and employ effective motivation techniques. They not only can help you accomplish your goals but also set good leadership example for others.

Effective motivation techniques start with a vision and passion, and then followed by a detailed plan that outlines the tasks needed to accomplish the vision.

Here are some effective motivation technique you can apply:

• If you have complicated tasks at hand, try to break them down into a smaller tasks so that they are manageable and achievable. If you don’t break down big tasks, they can overwhelm you and cause you to lose your motivation.
• Make a “to-dos” list every day and put the five most important things at the top of the list. Tackle one thing at a time. Move on to the next task on the list when one task is completed. This will help you to stay focused and move on.
• Every time you accomplish something from your “to-dos” list, reward yourself with something nice. This motivation technique will get you fired up and keep you going. If you have staffs under you, this is a good technique to motivate them and increase their productivity.
• Always talk positively to yourself, inject positive affirmations to your subconscious mind. This is a very powerful motivation technique to propel you to move on when things get toughed. It will also help to build your confidence.
• Give yourself time. Don’t expect immediate gratification. Focus and work hard on your plan, don’t get side tracked, you will see results soon if you don’t give up.
• Get a reliable person to be your mentor or person who can help to keep you on track. This technique is not to micro-manage you, but to assist you with sticking with your plan and goals.
• Take a break. If you feel tired and can’t seem to focus, give yourself a break. This is very important so that you don’t get burnt out. Hard works must be balanced with good rest.
• Finally, if you feel like you are at a roadblock, your motivation is down the drain and you can’t seem to find a way out, hire a coach or read a book about motivation.

effective motivation techniques, motivation at work, motivation behavior, motivation skills, practical motivation techniques, self motivation

It has been the fact since the start of ancient civilization till today, one of the main jobs of a leader is to motivate others. If there were no leaders, most people wouldn’t have the drive or determination to do anything. Society would literally fall apart. That’s why employees in an organization have a boss or a manager, a country will have a President or prime minister or someone who people trust as their leaders.

>>> Click here to continue reading this article…

great motivation secrets of great leaders, how leaders motivate, leaders and motivation, leadership & motivation, leadership and motivation, leadership style and motivation, motivation in leadership, motivational leader, motivational leaders, motivational leadership

Self motivation is hard for many people. Here are five self motivation tips you can use to inspire yourself and create a new drive.

Tip One: Borrow other people motivation.

This self motivation tip deals with pride. If you find it hard to motivate yourself, then borrow other people’s motivation. Tell your co-workers, friends, and family about the plan and tasks that you are setting out to do. Sometimes the sheer determination of not failing in front of others will motivate you to keep going until the end.

>>> Click here to continue reading this article…

effective motivation, how to build self motivation, self motivation activities, self motivation techniques, self motivation tips, tips for self motivation