Success Takes Flexibility

In order to find success in our lives we need to pay attention to what is working and what is not. We need to find a way to do more of what is working in order to get more of what we want. This shift in position – to change you position, is the essence of flexibility.

A wise person once said, “If you always do what you’ve always, done, you’ll always get what your always got.” A variation of this statement provides a succinct definition for insanity as “the definition of insanity is doing what you always done, but expecting different results.” The point of both is that if you want to experience change in your life, then you have to be willing to change. Many times what keeps you from becoming flexible and open to change is you are afraid to move out of your comfort zone.

A comfort zone is just that: a place, or zone, where you may feel comfortable, but growth and success are often not cultivated and nurtured here. We create comfort zones in many different areas of our lives. At work, in our personal relationships, and even with our health we fall into habits that create a sense of comfort (“I have always done it this way”) and the thought of changing these habits cause dread, anxiety and fear.

To step outside of your comfort zone is to step through fear. On the other side of the fear is growth and success. Becoming flexible allows you to navigate through the fear, because the fear of never changing or never reaching the dream inside of you may provide enough motivation to take the first step.

A word of caution: Even though persistence is a very important ingredient to reaching your goals, you also need to understand when persistence alone isn’t enough. For example, let’s say there is a 10,000 pound rock you are trying to move all by yourself. Each day you wake up and face that rock. You lower your shoulder and try with all of your might and strength to move that rock. You heave and you shove and the rock goes no where.

There is tremendous value in the effort, but you are not seeing different results; you are not reaching your goal of moving the rock. Before your abandon your goal of moving the rock, take a full step back and reconsider the situation. Become flexible to other options. Ask for help. Maybe even ask for a bulldozer, but do something different to get the result you deserve.