Page 11 - Comfort Zone Sample Chapter

A Practice Memory Wheel

Make copies of this page if you wish, so you can experiment with multiple situations. In area 1,
write the situations, perceptions, and emotions relating to an event. In area 2, write the choices
you may have had as the event unfolded. In area 3, write the actions you took (or feel you should
have taken). In area 4, write the probable consequences of your actions.

1. Illustration 10-6 2.

Emotions
Choices
Perceptions

Situations

4. 3.
Consequences Actions

in a manner that produced pleasant conse- emotions, choices, behavior, consequences) you
quences. The pleasant consequences in turn re- tried to exert your self control. If you find that you
duced his fear and anger by allowing him to see spent the greater amount of time trying to control
some concern on the part of the gate agent as your emotions or your consequences, you must ex-
well as to understand the nature of the delay in ert your efforts on different areas of life’s elements.
greater depth. By beginning a new life event (cir- You should certainly not give up attempts to control
cumstance) with less fear, this fearful/angry flier your behavior.
is well on his way to managing the flight delay in You should, however, place more energy in the
as comfortable a manner as possible under the area of choices and circumstances than you have
circumstances. in the past. In aviation, you have very limited con-
Imagine the thousands of life events which oc- trol over your circumstances. If you choose to fly,
cur during the course of a day. As an exercise, control over your circumstances will be limited to
I encourage you to list on paper five distinct life schedules, weather, airports, airlines etc. If you
events that have occurred in the last week. See find some circumstances more fearful (and anger
if you can understand where in the sequence of producing) than others, try and choose the circum-
life elements (e.g. circumstances, perceptions, stances that offer the least upsetting elements.