More On Motivation Theory Of Comfort Zone

photo credit: Thomas Hawk

Motivation Theory Being Translated

I have a friend who is acting as my Chinese Cantonese coach who is helping me with a Cantonese translation of my now signature motivational speech based on my book, The Life Champion In You.  Throughout this process, we have found that there are some words and phrases in English which will be very challenging or even impossible to directly translate into Cantonese.  Some for these instances, we will opt to just use the actual English words when we have to.  This might include the motivation theory of comfort zone as well.

We’ve been working on this project since the New Year and so far, I’ve been using the English words ‘comfort zone’ in my Cantonese version of my speech.  But just about a week ago, Warren, my Cantonese coach, emailed me and said he may have found a suitable equivalent in Cantonese.

I’m not going to bother mentioning it here since it will be like an alien language to most of my readers but it won’t be a direct word for word translation of the phrase comfort zone.  Instead, it is a phrase in Cantonese that roughly means ‘challenge your limit’.

I thought of it for awhile and it just might work because when I use the term ‘comfort zone’ during my motivational speeches (and in my book The Life Champion In You), I’m indicating the range of any skill level that we are already quite comfortable in.  This can be thought of as within our limits.

Example Of Comfort Zone Motivation Theory

For example, let’s take speaking in front of an audience.  For most people, speaking to say a group of three really good friends or relatives in a private setting away from public would be within their comfort zone.  However, speaking in front of hundreds of strangers in an auditorium would definitely be outside most people’s comfort zones.

So when we want to improve on certain skills like public speaking, we have to move outside our comfort zones, i.e., speak to more than just our three best friends.  Of course, the best way to do this is instead of jumping right to the auditorium podium which would most certainly freak most people out, is to gradually speak in front of smaller groups before moving into more intimidating venues.

You can use this motivation theory for just about any skill that you want to learn or improve in.  I call it a motivation theory because I believe that by using it, you will be able to be more motivated to improve yourself even in areas that were previously impossible to you.

Video Of Motivation Theory Illustrated Graphically

Last year, I shot an entire episode of Motivational WebTV to show my viewers just how feasible this motivation theory of comfort zone can be used to improve our skills gradually.  If you missed it, see it at Comfort Zones Demystified As Theory Of Motivation.

In the meantime, I’m still expanding my own comfort zone as I attempt to learn a Cantonese version of my motivational speech.