Have you experienced pain? I’m not talking about a stubbed toe or a splinter in your finger… I’m talking about serious, put-your-existence-on-hold, pain. In my years of working in healthcare I’ve seen a lot of pain. From chronic aches and pains to acute injuries that redefine a person’s very existence.
Pain can be a horrible thief. Perhaps the only virtue that it brings with it is this… It prompts us to take action. Pain propels us into a highly motivated state to make something happen. A state where we must find answers and we must make changes. If there is any possible way, we will do whatever is within our power to get out of that imprisoned state. Pain… Discomfort… Discontentment… Unless you’ve given up these things are really hard to ignore.
When I work with patients in my clinic and discuss pain with them I often tell them about what I call “The 3 Zones”. The 3 zones are the red zone, the yellow zone and the green zone. As you can see, I was feeling quite creative when I decided to name them.
Red zone simply means that something is out of control and it is interfering with your life. When somebody is looking to fix or change something, chances are, it’s because they are in red zone. After achieving progress with the problem we end up in yellow zone. Yellow zone means that the problem has decreased significantly. It is still present but it is no longer raging out of control. Green zone means that the problem has been resolved. Congratulations! You have reached the finish line! Now go and live your life to the fullest.
Each zone describes the extent to which a problem is affecting your life. Consequently, each zone also correlates to how motivated we are in order to make it better. As long as we are in red zone, for example, we are determined and committed to do whatever it takes to make things better. Then something happens…
We stay the course… Then we make a little more progress… We continue doing what has brought us this far… Then we make a little more progress. Before you know if we are out of desperation and firmly planted in the yellow zone. For the first time in forever, things are better… Stable.
Do you want to know what happens next? We start to get comfortable. We’re not so bad off anymore… Certainly a lot better off than we were. Human tendency starts to kick in and we start to neglect the things that have brought us this far in the first place. We start to get lazy with our program. We start to accept this new-and-improved status as the destination rather than simply a point along the way.
We’ve all seen this many times. Disabling pain becomes an moderate pain and so the treatment plan is put on hold. A nutrition plan starts to give the results we are looking for so we start to cheat. A fitness program starts to cause improvements so we celebrate by taking a week off… Sound familiar?
These examples relate to physical outcomes but do you think there is any difference in this human tendency when we’re dealing with the mental world of our mindset? The pull in this arena can be just as strong to become neglectful with the very things that brought our progress in the first place. Once the fire that prompted our action has calmed so can our motivation to press on. We can become comfortable.
Here’s the truth, though… The greatest victories in life are found beyond the fields of mediocrity. This is why we must persist. Our motivation while in red zone is provided for us in the form of whatever it is that we are trying to escape. By the time we are in yellow zone, though, we must find our own drive by constantly reminding ourselves of the outcome that we set for ourselves in the first place. The yellow zone of intermediate success can swallow dreams by trying to seduce you with comfort and ease… “Settle in and stay a while”, it says… “You’re so much better off already.” And it’s tempting… And it’s easy… And it’s a journey left incomplete.
As you are on this journey to become the greatest version of yourself please remember this of the yellow zone… No matter how good the yellow zone feels when it is compared to the red zone, well, the green zone is beyond your wildest dreams. Red and yellow just aren’t good enough anymore. I’ll see you in the green zone.
~Cheers
Daniel
I look forward to each week’s blog. You have such insightful analogies.
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Thanks, Bruce! I appreciate it!
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Wow, Daniel, another well-written post! You write in such a creative way: your stories are extremely entertaining while managing to share some powerful insights. Thanks for sharing!
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So kind of you to say, Shirley! I really appreciate you stopping by and commenting. Stay AWESOME!
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Men are like water they seek there own level.
You are awesome!
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Yes, Wes… Like water men seek their own level. Only pressure can make water rise above… Perhaps mankind is the same? Thanks for your comment.
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Another powerful post, Daniel! You engage the reader and get your message across with great clarity.
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Thanks, Marilynrholloway. It means a lot to me that you enjoyed it! Thanks for your comment and remember to beware the yellow zone!
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wake-up-call. thank you
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So easy to kind of fall asleep at the wheel, especially as things start going better! Here’s to wake-up calls! Thanks for commenting, masterkeybritta!
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Shared it with so many people over the past week! You are influencing lives.
Riple effect
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Reblogged this on start masterkeybritta and commented:
you are not done yet!
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Boy you nailed this one Daniel! I especially like your sentence:
“The greatest victories in life are found beyond the fields of mediocrity.”
I might have to write that one on the wall.
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Thanks for your comment, masterkeyrexp! I wrote this entry late at night in a fog of inspiration. When I read that sentence the next morning I though, “Hey… I kind of like that.” LOL
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Simply brilliant, as usual! Thank you – this is SO true – and a great warning and inspiration.
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Kind of you to say, mkmmaasambush. Heed the warning and be an inspiration! 🙂
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Thank you for this Daniel!!! This was exactly what I needed to read at this time. Thank you thank you for being in harmony. You are awesome!
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Glad to hear it was helpful for you aknovo01. I must have been tapped into the MKE bandwidth because this ended up being the subject of the webcast. LOL
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Daniel, great blog post! I’m a project manager by trade and have similar experiences with yellow-zones. This is when a project is not quite on alert (glad we don’t have to tell the CEO how bad it is) but, all the same, we may be a frog in a kettle headed for a boil and could be cooked in short order. Great visuals!
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Great point, Bob. I think we all have ‘yellow zones’ we can relate to where things “really aren’t that bad…” or “aren’t as bad as they used to be”. It can be tempting to stay where it’s comfortable but that doesn’t end well. Thanks for stopping by and for your contribution to our class!
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Thanks for your post!
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It was my pleasure, masterkeybillj. I hope that you enjoyed it and found it useful.
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Great blog, thanks 🙂
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Glad you enjoyed it, masterkeybron! Thanks for stopping by.
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Aloha Daniel, I LOVE this blog!! I work in the field of educational and specialized kinesiology – so I recognize how my clients are sometimes happy to just get to the yellow zone of “compacency” and never experience the joy and wonder of the green zone. See you in the green zone, for sure!! Cheers, wendyht
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Yes, the yellow zone can be so seductive! I can try to convince us that it’s best to be satisfied with what we’ve got. How dare we demand more? Yet there is the green zone, waiting for those brave enough to persist. Thanks for reading and for your comment. I will indeed see you in the green zone!
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