Have you ever been driving a car and realized you've left the emergency brake on? Of course—we all have. But having discovered the brake is on, do we press harder on the gas pedal? Of course not!
We simply release the brake, and with no extra effort, we go faster.
Going through life is a lot like driving a car. But, unfortunately, most people go through life with their psychological emergency brakes on. They hold on to negative self-images or suffer the effects of emotional events they haven't yet released. To cope, they stay in a comfort zone entirely of their own making.
When they try to achieve their goals, these negative thoughts and feelings inevitably cancel out their good intentions, no matter how hard they try to make progress. Call them "blocks," "limiting beliefs" or simply "being stuck," these self-images and past hurts create a situation similar to driving through life with the emergency brake on.
Successful people, on the other hand, are able to move beyond their comfort zones—not due to superhuman feats of willpower but by eliminating their negative beliefs about themselves. They release the brakes and instantly go faster.
Get out of your comfort zone. Think of your comfort zone as a prison which is largely self-created. It consists of a collection of can'ts, musts, must nots and other self-limiting beliefs formed from all the negative thoughts and decisions you have experienced during your lifetime.