Do you remember how it felt when you sat behind the wheel of a car the first time? The direction of the car was up to you. YOU had complete control.

And, you felt like you had no idea what you were doing.

You had some notion of how the car worked, but how to merge your movements to get the car to do what you wanted felt awkward. (Like dancing with your sister.)

You very consciously turned the key, thinking about how long you needed to turn it before the engine caught, not wanting to stop turning too soon and not holding it too long.

Your brain went to the next step, remove the parking brake, check for other cars or people, put the car in gear and slowly lift your foot off the brake, then carefully, slowly, press down the gas pedal.

Every step was a conscious thought.

Now you hardly think about the steps.

You glide through the motions and you are spinning into traffic.

Often, we are thinking about something else, singing a song, or telling the kids to buckle up.

What was very uncomfortable has become very comfortable. Routine even.

What got you there?

Doing it over and over again.

That is why we need to step outside our comfort zones, not just once or twice, but often.

And we didn't learn to drive on our own. We had someone sitting right there beside us, coaching and coaxing us.

Because like that teenager you used to be, your desire to drive had something to do with freedom.

Learning new things gives us more freedom.

Freedom to be ourselves. To act, to move, to express our thoughts. To be able to make more decisions. To have autonomy.

If you need help getting outside your comfort zone, schedule a no-cost breakthrough call with Natasja or Jeff at www.drpauljenkins.com/breakthroughcall.

DrPaul