18 Apr Get Uncomfortable- Challenge Your Thinking

All of us have a belief system that is heavily influenced by our environment (family, friends, culture, TV/Radio/Internet, etc.).  We eat the foods we eat, watch the shows we watch, do the things we do, based on who and what we’re around.  This makes our lives very limited, like the frog in the well, versus expansive, like the frog in the sea.  Life becomes truly adventurous and exciting when we learn to get uncomfortable, when we search for the unknown, and when we challenge our own belief system.

Here are a few tips on getting uncomfortable:

Ask yourself WHY– Why do you do what you do?  Why do you believe the way you do?  Why did you decide that your favorite color’s blue, or your favorite food is spaghetti?  It may have been true years ago.  Is it still now?  What if I tried something different?

Habits can be wonderful things, but they can also debilitate.  Developing self-awareness about our choices allows us to explore other alternatives.

Look for alternatives– Many times, I’ve heard “well, that’s the way I’ve always done it,” or “this is the right way to do it.”  What I’ve come to find out is that most of the time, things improve when alternatives are sought.  Ask yourself is there a different way of doing something.  Sometimes, different is just different.  Sometimes, it’s an improvement.

Get/stay humble– With humility comes curiosity.  With curiosity comes a thousand different ways to do something, not just a few.  If we feel like we know everything, then there is nothing to learn.  If we have a childlike inquisitiveness about everything we do, life is more wondrous.

Stop labeling & judging- When we label things as right/wrong, good/bad, best/worst, etc., we place things in a ‘box’ that limits its potential.  Learning to accept things as they are allows us to inspect them more objectively, learn from them, and enjoy them.

Approach everything with love; banish fear– Fear is one our biggest paralyzers.  It stops us from taking action.  Fear of the unknown is one of the biggest fears that we all encounter.  If we learn to overcome fear with faith & love, we broaden our horizons and our capabilities.  We’ve heard many times that ‘ignorance is bliss.”  Many times, the reason for this is that we tend to act when, if we had a more complete knowledge, we would hesitate.

Share– We learn by doing; we internalize by teaching & sharing.  More importantly, others expand their horizons as we share with them.

If you don’t like big changes, just go for 1% per day. A 1% change is not huge, and most people can grasp the aspect of only changing 1% per day.  The cool thing is that you made a 1% improvement in your life per day, you would be 37X better by the end of the year.  It’s the small things, added up, that become the big things.

When you get uncomfortable, you continue to learn, improve, and expand your knowledge. You enjoy life much more.  You look at life like an adventure, always looking for new ways to do things, to see new things, and to experience new things.