CHANGING THE ZONING CODE
"To succeed in
life we must stay within our strength zone but move out of our comfort zone."
- John C. Maxwell
Author/Speaker
Zoning codes change from city to
city, but every city has them and many are basically the same. This is why you do not find someone’s home in
the middle of the downtown business district or a factory in the middle of the
neighborhood. Zoning codes are designed to
give a balance to the city and make its businesses and residents as safe and
comfortable as they can.
Of
course you will always find those codes that are restrictive, unreasonable and downright
stupid. You have businesses where people
should be and people stuck next to some noisy and dirty factory. This too can happen in our life. We all have zoning codes that can help us to
be the most productive, creative and happy we can be. However, we too can get these codes mixed up. We restrict ourselves as to what we can
do. We set limits on our abilities and
we end up unhappy and living a life that is far less than it should be.
One
of the most restrictive and unhealthy of these personal zones is known as the
comfort zone. That has always hit me as
an odd name for it since it does not make us comfortable. Our comfort zone is the place in life that we
are familiar with and have gotten used to.
It may not be where we want to be; in fact, you may even hate it there,
but you do know it. Our comfort zone is
the place of no surprises, no expectations and no advancements. It can also be known as “the dead zone”.
A
successful life is only achieved by moving out of the comfort zone into the
scary and challenging zone we call “the unknown”. The unknown is the area of life that holds
all the adventure, all the opportunities, and all the chances for success. It is not a place that we know well, that is
why it can be scary. It calls to us with
promises of achievement, success and fulfillment, however it does not reveal
just how that will come about. The
unknown says, “You have to take a risk or you cannot have the prize”.
The
great poet and author, T.S. Eliot said, “Only those who will risk going too far
can possibly find out how far one can go.”
Here is a reality that we all must accept: you will never achieve your
dreams as long as you hide in the comfort zone.
You must move out; take a chance and be willing to even fail once or
twice to achieve your dream. Many of us
have been raised to see this risk as the danger zone, however, I believe it is
more like the opportunity zone. It is
wise to remember this Chinese Proverb: “Even when opportunity knocks, a man
must still get up and answer the door.”
The only way out of the comfort zone is to walk out.
To discover how you can achieve the dream you have believed was
impossible for too long, read On The
Journey To Achievement by John Patrick Hickey. You can get a signed copy for yourself and
get one for a friend, by going to http://www.johnpatrickhickey.com/it-is-good-to-set-goals-better-to-achieve-then/. Now available on Kindle, Oops! Did I Really Post That? Online
Etiquette in the Digital Age by John Patrick Hickey.
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