AMY HANSEN

The definition of a comfort zone is a place or situation to feel safe or at ease without stress.  Every experience you have is determining what feels good and safe versus what feels uncomfortable.  You use those experiences to determine what goes in your comfort zone and what goes outside of it.

If you were ever made fun of, felt judged, or criticized for what you were doing, you immediately placed those things outside of your comfort zone.  You never want to feel those feelings again so you deem those situations as uncomfortable and push them out of your comfort zone.

Things that just sound scary because you’ve never done them before are outside of your comfort zone too. You’re so afraid of the unknown that it’s better off to remain with what you do know for sure is safe.  Who knows what will happen if you step outside your comfort zone.  You decide not to risk it and take a chance that it could be uncomfortable.

You avoid stepping outside your comfort zone because ultimat...

Your thoughts become your reality.  It is said that if you’re driving a car and you tell yourself don’t hit the curb, don’t hit the curb, you inevitably hit the curb.  This shows that your thoughts have a lot of power.  Your subconscious mind goes to work to make what you’re focusing on a reality.

The principle here is what you focus on becomes your reality.  If you’re focusing on all the negative things in your life this will only draw more negativity to you.  For example, your day goes from bad to worse simply because you stubbed your toe in the morning and made a big deal about it.  Or perhaps you were stuck in traffic on the way to work and this just put you in a bad mood.  You start living in negative energy since your mind is consumed by negative thoughts. This vicious cycle only continues because the negativity is getting sent out into the universe which is only circling back to you.

You must stop and think about what you’re focusing on.  If you find yourself focusing on...

Ever wonder why some people achieve success while others don’t?  Here are the top ten traits that successful people have in common.

1. Have Ambition

 Successful people are ambitious about what they want to achieve in the future.  They aren’t afraid to dream big.  They have a clear vision for the future and what they want to achieve.  Ambition drives them to constantly work on achieving goals.  This allows them to grow as people and live a more fulfilling life.

2. Have Confidence

Confidence is key for successful people.  Successful people must have confidence and a strong belief in themselves in order to achieve their goal.  Without that confidence it would be almost impossible to achieve their goal.  A strong belief gives them the confidence to keep going and working hard on achieving their goals.

3. Do What They Believe In

Successful people not only believe in themselves but they also believe in their purpose.  They do what they have a passion for.  They believe in thei...

Everyone has goals that they work towards.  Some achieve them while others don’t.  It makes you think, what’s the difference between these people?

The following five step process will help you become one of the success stories and stay motived toward reaching your goal.  It all starts with simply believing.

Believe It Is Possible

You must believe the goal is something you can achieve.  You may not have any evidence that the goal is possible, but you must believe it anyway. This belief gives you motivation to keep going, even when things get difficult.  Other people may tell you it’s impossible.  This is when you have to believe even harder.  You have to believe in your goal more than anyone else in order to achieve it.

Believe In Yourself

Not only do you have to believe in your goal but you have to believe in your ability to make it happen.  Again, other people may put you down saying you’re not capable of doing something so great. However, you must have a strong belief i...

You may not even realize it but you’re limiting yourself from living life to your fullest potential. Here are four ways you’re limiting yourself.

Fear 

Fear limits you from trying new opportunities.  It’s easier to stay in your current situation than to try something new that you’ve never done before.  This is because you don’t know how it will turn out.

In new situations you automatically start running through all the different worst case scenarios.  Maybe you will fail, maybe it will feel uncomfortable or you’ll embarrass yourself.  You interpret the new opportunity as too hard, dangerous or too much to try.  Whatever it may be, your brain just wants to keep you “safe.”

Your brain knows that you’ll be safe by remaining in your comfort zone.  You won’t have to face failure, discomfort, or embarrassment.  Your brain decides that anything that is different than the norm should be avoided.  That’s why you crawl back into your comfort zone.  But this way of being only keeps ...

It can be hard sticking to your schedule when there are things planned that you don’t want to do. All of a sudden something else becomes more important, like watching Netflix or taking a nap rather than tackling the scheduled task.

Since this task is on your schedule you must learn to stick to it.  You have already decided this task was important and it needed to get done. That’s why you scheduled it in the first place. 

Adjusting your schedule due to emergencies is rare.  It’s usually you deciding this task wasn’t important enough to get done that causes you to change your schedule.  It’s easier to procrastinate and do something else that’s more enjoyable.

Procrastination is the worst thing you can do when it comes to your schedule.  When you push tasks off until later, you become stuck in a panic. You’re frantically running around late, in a hurry, trying to get everything done that you’ve put off doing.  It would be so much easier if you just completed the tasks on your ...

Sunday is the perfect day for planning out your week.  You may be thinking that a structured week sounds so busy and overwhelming.  You’d rather not have anything planned during the week because it feels freeing.  But the truth is, you’ll remain feeling overwhelmed because you’re not planning out your week to accomplish tasks that are nagging at you.

There are plenty of tasks floating around in your head that you need to get done.  Those tasks are causing you unneeded stress because your brain is trying to remember them all.  Your brain is trying so hard not to forget what you must get done this week.  That’s why planning out your week is essential to your success.

Brain Dump

A brain dump is getting all of your to-dos, errands, and must get done tasks down on paper.  Take everything that’s floating around in your head and write it down.

Also, think about things that will prevent you from getting these tasks done.  Perhaps you need to ask someone for help and need to coo...

Comfort zones are designed to keep you safe.  You know exactly what to expect and there is little to fear when you live inside your comfort zone.  But this is also why you remain stuck.  One simple reason; fear.  Fear can actually hold you back from living life to your fullest potential.

Fear can stop you from going after your dreams.  Fear is built up when you don’t know the exact steps to take.  Your mind starts swimming with all the worst case scenarios and it becomes easier to just remain in your comfort zone.

Ask yourself if fear is making the decision for you.  You may be afraid because you’re not quite sure what to expect.  This is when you must acknowledge that if you remain in your comfort zone you’re not truly living life.  You are here to learn and grow.  The only way to do that is to push yourself to step outside your comfort zone.

You fear stepping outside your comfort zone because of the unknown.  At least in your current comfort zone you know what to expect, ...

The decisions and actions you take determine your future.  You are in control of your life as far as the thoughts, beliefs, and actions you take. These will all determine the outcome of your life.

Think of it this way, you are the captain of your ship.  You can steer it any which way you would like.  But first you must acknowledge that you are behind the wheel and in control.

Your response to a situation is something that you are in control of.  You can choose to respond with negativity to a situation or take responsibility for the outcome.  Perhaps the decision you made didn’t turn out the way you had hoped.  Instead of consuming yourself with negativity you can use it as a life lesson.

Life lessons are important to learn so you’ll improve and do better next time.  Look at these lessons and take responsibility to recognize where you went wrong.  But also, don’t forget to celebrate what you did right.

Be intuitive of your thoughts and feelings.  Notice if you’re beating...

Every moment your mind is flooded with thoughts.  It can be difficult to quiet your mind and simply sit there in silence.  That is your challenge this week.

Schedule five minutes to sit in silence.  This practice will allow you to pause for a moment.  It’s time well spent to stop thinking about the mounting pressure of your to do list. 

Set a timer for five minutes.  The timer is used in case you become so relaxed that you fall asleep.  Sitting in silence will not only help quiet your ever busy mind, but it will let you to be more present.

Lay on the floor on your back with your legs stretched out and your arms by your sides.  Palms up if you feel like you need clarity on something and would like to receive guidance.  Palms down if you want to feel more grounded and present in the moment.  Close your eyes.  You may hear some sounds around you but the key here is to quiet your mind.

Your mind may be racing with things you think you should be doing instead of lying there....