(By Leland Francisco)

I want to win at life, like everyone. Winning means different things to different people.

How most people perceive winning:

Get rich and live a relaxed life. Make the world a better place. Become a Zen monk fully immersed in the now. Enjoy every minute like a crazy hedonist. Grow an amazing family and have great friend companions.

Every person enjoys different flavors with different quantities to achieve winning.

But all of those require tools.

Tools help you win; they are the driving engine to winning.

You need to accumulate tools to win, or start praying for a rich uncle/Monk/God to pop up and give you everything you need.

Well, we are not going to wait for that.

One of the tools I find very effective is getting out of your comfort zone.

Bear with me. You heard it a million times (cliché alert).

Here are some examples of doing it:

You have always worked in large corporations [GETTING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE] -> You start working on something for yourself. You don’t like the capitalistic world [GETTING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE] -> You start searching for the great things capitalism has done for the world and fully embrace it for a week. You never considered dressing up extra nicely [GETTING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE] -> You go to a fancy store, buy a very nice shirt and pants and go out with them to a Fancy Restaurant.

Why?

This tool expands your mind like nothing else.

Experiencing the world differently makes you brave, powerful, insightful and with a backbone to sustain a lot.

It also has a stacking effect – the more you get out of your comfort zone, the more the qualities needed to win at life improves.

How am I getting out of my comfort zone as of right now?

I am eating a lot healthier, something I haven’t done in a long time

I challenge my procrastination by working in hours I usually don’t enjoy working in (8-10 PM)

I am writing this blog post even though in my comfort zone I don’t believe it will reach anyone and will be read only by me

So go ahead and try one time today to get out of your comfort zone, you will gain at least 20 points closer to winning, I promise.