DAY 345 Toon Tuesday & Are You Comfy?

Hi Journal & Friends,

Time for Toon Tuesday!

This Toon is about where I'm at, right now. Exactly. Getting ready to bust out of my Comfort Zone. I'm writing this mainly to give MYSELF a swift kick in the tush!

First, a quick explanation.

A while back, I read some info from Tom Venuto (he's Here)  about what he thought were keys to personal change and achievement. And it had to do with not getting comfortable. 

It had to do...

• With hard work.
• With being willing to experience discomfort.
• With pushing beyond our boundaries.
• With facing change and busting through to the next level.

He also said things like:

• Hard work is the price we pay for change and success.

• We must get out of our comfort zone to make progress.

• We've got to get past the discomfort, fears, emotional pain in order to have change and growth.

• We need to push, to go JUST beyond where we are now, in order to grow.

• If it's not hard, we don't grow. So we need to get "comfortable" with discomfort... think of it as Growth! 

Whenever I am tempted to whine "this is haarrdd", instead I  think, "I am getting stronger!"

Is it always easy?? Uh... no. At least not for me. Not yet anyway. Believe me, I dearly wish I WAS one of those that blog about how easy it is. But I'm being honest here... nope, not easy for me most of the time.

Back to Tom...he says that we must step over the boundaries of where we are at, of where we have gotten comfortable, and PUSH into the next zone, the next level. And STAY there, don't pull back. Stay til you feel comfortable again. THAT'S when you know change has happened! You've become stronger.

That's the signal to PUSH into the next level! And you just keep going, at your own pace, for continued growth and achievement.

I think that is the mistake I make too often. I reach out, but then pull back. I want to change that.

Think of this whole idea as a bunch of circles. You are in the middle, in your current Comfort Zone. To get to the next level, you must push through the fear, the discomfort, the unfamiliar, the unknown, and reach for MORE.

It's hard to describe that in words, so I made a fun Doodle out of it (can click to enlarge, and click again if you want details):

I made mine with Sharpies and colored pencils. In case anyone would like to doodle  around and color one as your own reminder to reach beyond your Comfort Zone, here is a black and white version to download. I drew this on gray parchment paper, so don't worry about the hazy marks here and there on the paper. It's not dirt. :-D

This is a thumbnail, because it's a rather large file, so you can print it out full size onto 8 1/2 x 11 paper. Click on it and enlarge to the largest file, then download.

Feel free to play with it and make any changes you like... and if you make one for yourself, would you do me a favor and come back here and leave a comment? Maybe post it on your blog so we could all see it? Most of all, enjoy yourself while you do it.

From Dr Phil's book: "Given your goals, how does your current thinking help you get there?"

My verse for today: "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

My quote for today: "Comfort is the enemy of achievement."  --Fara Gray

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta

=^..^=