Mareus News Blog

How to shine brightly

March 23rd, 2013

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“Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
George Bernard Shaw

Last weekend brought with it St. Patrick’s Day and so I had a look through some quotes from Irish writers and found the above quote from GB Shaw.  It got me thinking, how brightly is my life burning at the moment?  How can it be brighter?  Am I settling for less than I should? Is my comfort zone expanding or contracting at the moment? Is my life in balance? What’s important to me in my daily life?  Am I honouring that? What do I want to change?

It was time to get the coaching tools out and get back to basics. It had been a while…

… I found some self limiting beliefs starting to blossom, identified some values that had been put on the back burner, and noticed that I was getting quite cosy in my comfort zone, even if it wasn’t necessarily making me happy.  It’s time for a change, and I am starting on my plans. I am preparing to shine again.  I feel better already!

Mental fitness is a term I heard Neil O’Brien (Time to Fly)  use recently.  Good mental fitness helps you push out the boundaries of your comfort zone, it keeps you motivated. Good mental fitness is demonstrated through effective mood management, staying in a positive mindset longer (building this habit releases dopamine) and strong individual resilience (demonstrated by how quick you can bounce back) increases your overall potential and success.     Like any type of fitness, you need to work at it, get into a routine, and keep it going, or your mental fitness goes into reversal and  your comfort zone shrinks.  We can all let things slip, including myself, but the most important thing is to recognise the slip, pick back up where we left off and keep moving forward and challenging ourselves to take action. We are masters of our own destiny, pushing out the boundaries of the comfort zone brings growth and new opportunities.

In the words of the late great Steve Jobs:

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something…almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

So why not take stock now, use the questions I asked myself, and go do that thing you are uncomfortable with…  that’s the action that will get you out of your comfort zone! What’s stopping you?

All the best from Park West,

Grace