We’re going to play a game today.
Grab a rubber band.
If you don’t have one, no worries—imagine you’ve got one in your hand.
Now, take that rubber band, loop it between the index fingers of your left and right hands… Then, slowly stretch outward.
Can you feel the tension?
Now imagine this:
- Your LEFT hand is where you are NOW—your present reality.
- Your RIGHT hand (stretching away from the left) is where you WANT TO BE—your ideal reality.
Dynamic tension
The tension you’re feeling as you slowly stretch away from where you are now (on the left) toward where you want to be (on the right) is known as, “dynamic tension.”
And most people hate feeling it because it’s uncomfortable to stretch and feel the pain of the present as you work toward the pleasure of the future.
But feeling dynamic tension is GOOD THING.
Because it means growth.
It means progress.
It means you’re making things happen.
Far too often, many of us do everything we can to avoid feeling dynamic tension…
We stop thinking big and scale back on our dreams (where we want to be.)
Or, on the flip side, we chase goal after goal, after goal, after goal—before burning out and collapsing to the floor.
Or we numb the pain of our present with booze, or drugs, or Netflix.
None of this helps us.
Embrace the discomfort zone
A more effective path to your ideal reality is to be honest—even grateful for—where you are now, as you get excited about where you want to be.
All while holding the tension as you enjoy the process of taking small steps daily toward the direction of your greatest goals and desires.
Think of it this way:
- Your present reality is your comfort zone.
- Getting to your ideal reality requires going through the discomfort zone.
Now, if you stay in your comfort zone your entire life, you’ll never get to where you want to be. Not fun, not fulfilling. No stretching.
But if you set insanely ridiculous goals that you expect to hit within insanely ridiculous time frames—your rubber band eventually snaps and bites you in the hand. Not fun, not fulfilling.
Have you been there? (I have.)
So, what’s the solution?
We’ve got to move beyond the comfort zone, push past the discomfort zone, and enter the STRETCH ZONE.
Enter the stretch zone
Stretch zone? What’s that?
Between your comfort zone and your snap zone is your stretch zone.
- Your comfort zone means you’re not growing.
- Your snap zone means you’ve pushed yourself too far.
- But the stretch zone is where you want to be.
The key to getting from where we are to where we want to be is to set some inspiring goals we truly believe in and enjoy the process of working towards our ideal reality—all while maintaining the delicate balance of stretching without snapping.
And the way to do that is to:
- Maintain your highest ambitions of where you want to be—your ideal reality
- Stretch yourself and take small steps daily toward bringing that reality to fruition
Actionable insight
Now it’s time to put this method to practice in your own life.
What’s one important stretch goal you want to make happen within the next 12 months, and what’s one step you can take right now to inch yourself a little closer to it?
Write it down below. Then, get out there and make it happen:
- My #I Stretch Goal: __________
- One small action I can take within the next 24 hours to move closer to making it happen is: __________
