Come out of your comfort zone

were together at Carolina Wilderness, Muzipaz was at his usual habit of leaving it until late in the afternoon to be at his best.
He spends most of his time in morning playing, cooking and surveying the dams. He rarely fishes in the morning.
Last weekend, Chris warned him to put his act together early in case it rains later on during the day. His answer was; “Hove huru dzinodyira kana kwasviba”. (Big fish bite well at night).
Though Chris tried to conscientise him that “Chinono chine ngwe bere rakadya richifamba”, Muzipaz paid very little attention to Chris’ advice.
Unfortunately last weekend, it rained heavily from around midday until well into the night. As a result, Chris and myself caught bass in the morning while Muzipaz went home empty handed. He waited to fish in the afternoon and he paid a heavy price for that.
Reasons for procrastination
The following are some of the reasons for postponing important assignments:
Comfort Zones
From the time of pregnancy to the time of adulthood, our subconscious minds have been creating programmes in our minds which manifest as beliefs, and attitudes. The summation of our beliefs and attitude constitute our self-image. Our comfort zones are some of the constituent members of our self-image. Our minds reject what we are not familiar with or what we are not used to do. On the other hand, our minds accept what we are used to do (Comfort Zone).
Extensive research demonstrates that average human beings tend to postpone work which is outside their comfort zones and instead concentrate on work they are familiar with. Though Muzipaz had enough time to fully utilise fishing in the morning, he failed to do so because his mind kept on telling him that his time of reckoning will come in the afternoon. Though major fishing hours are both in the afternoon and in the morning, his comfort zone was in the afternoon. His mind rejected working hard in the morning because it was not his comfort zone.
Lack of ambition
Most people lack personal ambition. They fail to link how they will personally benefit by fulfilling certain tasks on time. They fail to appreciate the fact that goal getting is a priceless gift from God. Goal getters attract success and success enhancers, wherever they go. Therefore even if there is no clear link between achieving certain tasks with rewards, goal getting must be part of everyone’s DNA because there is a strong coloration between success and goal getting. Therefore lack of ambition makes you postpone doing work today which is important in shaping our future.
Fear of failure
If Muzipaz is forced to be a morning’s only fisherman, he is likely to quit fishing. The reason why he plays around in the morning and exerts himself in the afternoon is because he fears to fail in the morning. His belief system has been programmed to fail in the morning and in most cases, he avoids exerting his energies during the morning. The way we programme our subconscious minds from birth is in most cases a source of limitation for us. We fail in most cases because we believe we will fail.
Inability to challenge our
beliefs and attitudes
Though Muzipaz notices us catching in the morning, his subconscious mind has actually created a ‘blind spot’ for morning fishing. If one traces backwards, one realises that his now late fishing partners also believed in catching in the afternoon. Over the years his mind has been conditioned not to fish properly in the morning. Interestingly even if his current partners are catching in the morning, he lacks the confidence to jump on board and start competing effectively. However, in the afternoon he behaves like a possessed fisherman. The amount of energy he demonstrates is amazing given that he is no longer a spring chicken.
It does not need a rocket scientist to appreciate that fish bite at dawn, morning, afternoon and dusk, but in Muzipaz’s world, fishing is productive in the afternoon to dusk. Over the years, he has worked very hard to reinforce this belief system in the programmes which are housed in his subconscious mind. It in fact, causes him some discomforts and emotional stress if one continually challenges Muzipaz’s belief system and his attitude towards fishing.
Laziness
Some people just postpone doing important activities because of laziness. Laziness is premised in one’s mind and manifested in the way one carries his or her daily activities.
How to overcome procrastination
The following are some of the methods of overcoming procrastination:
Giving urgency to work
One of the methods of overcoming procrastination is giving our work the urgency it deserves. Do not wait until tomorrow to do what you are supposed to be completing today. Some postpone their work because they are in a habit of not giving any of their work the urgency it deserves. Individuals must learn to do what they want to do right away. Never wait until tomorrow.
Courage to challenge some of our
attitudes and beliefs
Muzipaz has over the years failed to realise the limitation placed by his afternoon fishing beliefs even if he arrives at the dam early.
At the age of 63 one wonders how the old man will be able to challenge his belief system.
However, one thing is clear, regardless of the emotional stress one goes through, one needs to stand up and challenge one’s career limiting attitudes and beliefs.
Given that some of the beliefs are reinforced by people we associate with, one might be required to stop associating with these friends as well.
Overcoming laziness
The first step towards eliminating laziness is to acknowledge that one is lazy and then come up with painful strategies to change the mindset of laziness. In addition one needs to appreciate the losses one incurs due to laziness.
Revisiting one’s ambition
One has to continually revisit one’s ambition to check progress towards the realisation of one’s goals. Revisitation of one’s progress is not an event but a continuous process. Goals can only be fulfilled by fulfilling assignments today.