Change Your Mind and Live Life

There’s an interesting phenomenon I’d like to share called ‘hysteresis’.  This term quite basically means an object under pressure such as an elastic band will return to its normal shape once the pressure is released.   

This can also apply to moving out of a comfort zone.  When the pressure is off individuals will often return to their original state.  

In order to move out of the comfort zone and create permanent change, strong enough pressure must be applied to transcend old habits.  Once the pressure’s released you’ll then have successfully moved to a new level. 

There is however another way of creating inner change, that, from experience, is not so painful, and that is through perceiving life differently.  

This change can go unnoticed until such time you meet your fear face to face, which in my case was a fear of flying. 

I often flew for either work or personal reasons although it filled me with fear every time I stepped onto an aircraft.  That was until I finally had a panic attack flying at approximately 32,000 feet above the Australian outback.   

Something had to give because I knew that sooner or later I’d again have to fly.  

One day with the help of a great coach friend of mine worked on eliminating this fear of mine.  We did this by drawing a line, which we named the past time line, and looked at the different events that occurred on it.  Nothing exciting really, and we spent the time with my friend asking me questions and me answering them as best I could.  To me it was a routine day having fun with a wonderful friend and deciding to do something about my fear. 

I thought nothing more about our session until it came time for me to once again fly.  There I sat in the departure lounge waiting for the familiar stirrings of anxiety and stress to overwhelm me but something wonderful happened.  Nothing!  No anxiety, no stress!  I had finally become comfortable with the uncomfortable!   

Even as the aircraft became airborne, I remained calm and have since enjoyed my flights tremendously. 

I now have this new sense of freedom all because I decided to look into why I had this fear in the first place.

We’re all so magnificently unique that not everyone’s outcome will be exactly the same as mine – some may need to work harder at it, some possibly less. 

Whatever the case when individuals choose to remain within the safety of their comfort zone nothing changes and life goes on as it’s always done – which is perfectly okay. 

For others, it takes commitment on their part to change old habits until the new behaviour becomes the ‘norm’, which it will eventually. 

Unfortunately there’s no instant fix or cure (I would’ve found it by now) – personal effort is required, and will, in all likelihood, be uncomfortable initially.   

The outcome of this will be living how you want to live, and knowing you achieved this through your own efforts by simply changing your mind.

Michaela Scherr Transformational Coach