JUST ONE THING
Zone Mastery: Navigating Growth, Learning, Fear, and Comfort
Episode 115
With Rick White, 180BIZ
I recently talked about and identified different business zones. Throughout this week, shop owners have been telling me that they want to be in the growth zone all the time. The problem is you can't or shouldn't stay in one zone all the time. Let's just look at them.
Staying in the Growth Zone is like climbing a mountain forever.
The Growth Zone. Staying in the growth zone all the time is like climbing a mountain and never stopping. It doesn't work. It's not sustainable. It's not fair. You will burn people out.
Staying in the Learning Zone, you’ll feel like a failure.
The Learning Zone. You can’t stay in the learning zone. If you do, you will inevitably feel like a failure. We learn by making mistakes. We learn from our shortcomings. We will fall. If you keep falling at some point you will just stay there. So, you don't want to stay in the learning zone for too long.
The Fear Zone is where regret comes from.
The Fear Zone. This is the zone I see people stuck in all the time. There's a song that I love, and it says when you're going through hell, don't stop moving. But this zone is where people set up camp. They get stuck in the fear zone. I truly believe the fear zone is where regret comes from. Regret doesn't come from doing something and failing. Regret comes from wanting to do something and never doing it. Don't allow yourself to get stuck in that fear zone anymore. Don't stay there.
The Comfort Zone is a great place to visit, but don’t live there.
Comfort Zone. Here is where you want to be every once in a while. Unlike what you hear, the comfort zone is not a bad place. It's a great place to visit. It's a lousy place to live. Over time the comfort zone gets smaller and smaller and smaller as your fear zone gets bigger. Don’t let that happen.
You can't be in one zone all the time, nor can your entire life be in one zone forever. You must be constantly moving through all of them. You may be in different zones in different areas of your life. Maybe you're working on your relationship in your personal life and the business is going okay so you are in your comfort zone recharging and reinforcing what you’ve learned from a healthy growth spurt.
Be intentional about how long you spend in each zone.
Remember, when you do spend time in the learning zone and the growth zone, your comfort zone gets bigger. That's what we want. Be intentional. Look at the different areas of your business, and I want you to identify which of the zones you're in. Are you in the comfort zone? Or even worse, the caged zone? That's where the comfort zone is so small and you're so afraid you feel caged.
Are you in the comfort zone, fear zone, learning zone, or growth zone? I want you to look at the different areas of your business, your job, whatever it is, and even your personal life and determine where you are. Too many times we get stuck in the fear zone or the comfort zone, and we think that's normal and decide to stay there. Don't camp out. Don't live in either one of those places.
In which zone do you spend the most time?
You will, at the end of your life, have regret for the things that you did not try to do. And I said the word try because we won’t be successful at everything we do. I would rather do something and fail than never try at all. Why are you stuck in the fear zone? That's what should ask yourself.
Don’t go it alone, get help.
And get help. I'd love to talk with you. If you feel like I could help, that's great. There are so many coaches out there. Find someone who can help you with this stuff. Stop thinking that you can do it by yourself. Everyone should have a coach. Be intentional about your zones. Mix it up intelligently. You should learn, push, rest, and repeat. Then learn, push, rest, and repeat. That's what you want to do. Go and rest. Go and rest.
Please this blog post. I will appreciate it. It's a great message and everyone needs to it. You could be an angel on earth today by sharing this message. Please do it. Remember we have the Pocket Business Genius every second Thursday of each month. We also have the shop owners' round table.
