Let’s face it, there will always be things we fear in life. Some of us fear the obvious “biggies” like heights, spiders, fires or flying. However, many of us develop fears around things that shouldn’t hinder us, but often do. Do you fear rejection? Taking risks? Failure? Success?
All of us have the tendency to form “comfort zones” around ourselves: boundaries between what makes us feel comfortable, and uncomfortable. Comfort zones are not always bad. Sometimes they can prevent us from doing something stupid or reckless. Most often, however, our comfort zones are built on a belief that may or may not be true. If you’ve experienced a particularly painful rejection in the past, you might create a comfort zone that will prevent you from “sticking your neck out there” and being rejected again. In this case, the comfort zone itself isn’t the problem. The underlying belief that you will be rejected again is the problem.
Just because you’ve been rejected in the past does not mean you will be rejected again in the future. That particular comfort zone will cause you to act in ways that are counterproductive...