Are you in a comfort zone? Are you happy to stay there because it’s what you know? You don’t want to leave your comfort zone because, well, it might be worse on the other side…or you just can’t be bothered? Too much effort? What if you’re not happy with your lot…I mean, really not happy? Time to get out of that comfort zone…it’s easier than you think!
Here’s a litte story from way back (late 80’s) about how a lesson was learned and how moving out of your comfort zone is paramount if you want the life you deserve.
About 30 years ago (wow!), my husband failed to get a sales job which he didn’t even want…it was for door to door selling of vacuum cleaners! We were so desperate to get out of the financial mess we were in that any job would have helped at that time.
The pay promised to be high for the successful candidate with bonuses galore. As he was already a night worker, he could perhaps fit this around the work he was doing, just long enough for us to catch a break.
You see, he already had a night job but the pay just wasn’t enough to make a dent in our financial crisis. So, he bit the bullet and was prepared to do anything that would help ease our money worries. When he wasn’t successful in his application he learned a very valuable lesson.
What irked him the most was his failure to even get a job that most people would baulk at. What was the reason?
It was his answer to a question he was given by the ‘boss’ after he’d been through 2 solid days of training.
After those two agonising days of being cajoled into what to say to those poor folk answering the door, he was almost brainwashed into believing that the product he was attempting to sell was the best thing since sliced bread. I say almost, and that’s where the problem lay.
All potential employees were shuffled in, one by one, to a final interview room and were asked one important question. The ‘correct’ answer would guarantee a job and a start the very next day.
What Was The Question?
“So, you’ve knocked on the door and a potential customer is stood right there in front of you. You then go through you sales technique that should guarantee a sale, but the door is slammed in your face after that person had told you they’re not interested and wouldn’t buy from a door to door salesman anyway. What would your reaction be?”
After a couple of seconds, and bearing in mind he desperately wanted the job, however demeaning it was to help pay our off debts, he answered:
“I would be devastated. I would feel I’d lost a customer and feel pretty ashamed of myself for failing…I would be crestfallen”
The interviewer looked him in the face and after a few seconds said, “thanks for your time, we’ll be in touch this evening with a decision”
Hubby thought he had a good chance of getting the job and was preparing his suit and patter for the next day’s employment, albeit with a kind of reluctance.
7pm the phone rang. It was the guy who interviewed him with the bad news that he was not successful in his application to be a door to door vacuum cleaner salesman.
I remember the day very well and I realised he’d not got the job from the astonished look on his face and a moments silence from him.
“May I ask why I didn’t get the job?” Hubby wanted to know what was so bloody important that he couldn’t get a job most people would run away from.
“Your answer” came the reply. “Your answer should have been ‘Oh, well. The potential customer is wrong because they could have been in possession of the greatest product in the world. It’s their loss not mine. I’ll move on to the next house and give that potential customer the ideal chance to get their hands on this wonderful vacuum cleaner’ – he continued “In essence, you failed to believe in the product, therefore, it manifested in a non-sale and a losers attitude. Carry on like that in this business and we would’ve been paying you to fail.”
Or something to that effect.
Slow Learners, But We Got There!
It was a valuable lesson. Although the answer was cringeworthy, hubby understood the principle.
It was a real knock for him, but he realised to get out of the mess we were in he would have to do things he didn’t want to do…but would be necessary for the end goal. It took a while for this to sink in (years) but looking back now, we should have taken that lesson and learned from it. We were still in the comfort zone for some time and it wasn’t until years later that we finally broke out of it and started breaking free of ‘the norm’. Hello LOA!
Neither of use, at the time, understood that doing something that meant going out of the comfort zone could lead to the solution we so desperatly wanted. Hubby felt he would meet with humiliation and despair if he went around knocking on the doors of strangers and it would only heap more misery on us.
Only later did he realise that if he’d been more confident in his approach, ignoring what other people thought of him, he could have made a great saleman and eased our situation.
Since getting out of our comfort zone, some 10 years ago, by living the Law of Attraction way, our life has turned around. Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you realise you have to change your ways.
At the time, those vacuum cleaner salesmen were earning big bucks, well, those who were of the right mindset were. Even now when a cold caller knocks at my door, I treat them with respect, because, who knows, they may be in a hole as we were.
Those ‘successful’ salesmen had trained their minds to believe in the product. They would meet each morning and work themselves up into a frenzy by chanting affirmations together with massive doses of backslapping and self belief exercises.
It may sound awful to be a part of this and for people like hubby it would’ve been, but those successful salesmen were indeed, making big bucks. Many of them fell by the wayside, not able to give their all and ended up feeling cheated by the company’s tactics, losing self confidence in themselves along the way. This kind of work certainly doesn’t suit everyone.
But those salesmen who can see the big picture end up successful in whatever they do. They remain focused and benefit from their belief, no matter how demeaning the process is to get there. Have you ever watched The Apprentice? Those candidates seem to come from another planet, but wouldn’t you like to have their spirit and belief?
Each of them, one day, will have the life they’ve always wanted and believed in. Their attitude is alien to many of us who want the same thing, but the spirit and belief should be the same.
I guess the moral to my little story is that you must believe in what you’re trying to achieve or you will be set up for failure. The journey to get there will be sometimes uncomfortable and in many ways, ridiculous. It took us years to ‘get it‘, but we’re so happy we persevered.
The Comfort Zone – Beautiful, But Nothing Ever Grows
How’s your life panning out so far? If it’s not what you thought it would be, maybe it’s because you’re stuck in a comfort zone. If you want to manifest better and brighter things in your life, then you need to take a leaf out of the vacuum salesman’s book and see the bigger picture.
I’m not saying you have to take a manic approach to it, do it your own way, but the important thing is to believe there is a better life just around the corner and to get there you have to move towards it.
The comfort zone we might find ourselves in is just that…a zone. Venturing outside of that zone opens up another world. A world where you can change your circumstances and start living the life you’ve always wanted to. It can be scary, but breaking through the resistance and pushing on with belief in yourself and the Law of Attraction will reap beautuful, fulfiling rewards.
Belief is one of the most powerful thoughts we have…period. Whether that belief is right or wrong it changes lives. Believe what is the best life for you and go after it. You will come across stumbling blocks, naysayers, uncomfortable situations and fear, but once you start seeing results, the life you want will start to appear. Remember the big picture.
All I ask you to do is believe in the Law of Attraction with all your might. You don’t have to go around knocking on doors trying to sell to strangers, you only have to deal with yourself…and that’s not hard at all.
You may, at first, feel it’s a crazy idea and after years of possessing a negative mindset, you may be super skeptical about it. But, put all that negativity behind you and start to believe in yourself and the power of the Law of Attraction.
When you truly, fully believe in it, things start to manifest in your life for the good. Clear away all the doubts, they’re only obstructing the really good stuff. The stumbling blocks and negativity are there to be cleared away ready to channel your new optimistic, never say die attitude.
Nothing should stand in your way. Be like those Apprentice candidates and brush away negativity, stand up for yourself and guide your way to the life you really deserve.
Do it for yourself, your family and your future.