ENTER NO MAN’S LAND

September 14, 2015 Riley
Posted by Riley on

Have you wanted to try something new?  Do you want to start something?  Do you want to change your world?  How far are you willing to go?  You’ve heard the saying “go where no one has gone before.”  What a platitude right? Seemingly enough it holds true.  Most of the successful people, innovators, and revolutionaries in the world entered no man’s land and came out on top.  I have come to understand that there are just a few reasons why we don’t enter. First, we are scared of the unknown.  Second, we like comfort.  Third, change is hard and fourth, we don’t believe we can make it.  I believe there are only a few simple things we can do to make no man’s land our land.  Let’s understand what “no man’s land” is.

 

NO MAN’S LAND

Commonly “no man’s land” is attributed to the First World War as the space between the two armies trench systems. This area was not meant for people to occupy nor cross because there was a fear of being attacked.  You can also say “no man’s land” is unoccupied space.  Therefore, the first one in no man’s land owns that land.  I admit to the same fears and uncertainty about entering such an unknown.  But I have entered and the results were more than I could have thought.  Imagine yourself standing at the end of your street with the city at your back.  There are cars, buses, workers, passerbys, and hundreds of things going on around you.  You look ahead at a vast, untapped territory with unknown possibilities.  You look down to see your feet firmly against the sidewalk and at your toes are on the doorstep of no man’s land.  No man’s land could be desert, forest, rain forest, ocean, or whatever your mind makes of it.  It is unknown to you in every way.  Now let’s figure out why you don’t enter.

  • FEAR TO ENTER

The unknown is intriguing and fun to mentally explore but when it comes to physically enter, it no longer seems like a fun place to be.  Would you like to walk into a dark room with no flashlight?  Probably not, but you’d never have known that with your first step the light turns on and you see a room of gold.  That initial step is not fun to take but the reward is great.  Now I do not recommend stepping into the unknown completely.  You need to do some homework in order to enter the right door and not pick the one next it that has an abrupt drop-off into the abyss.  Marketers would never launch a campaign  without knowing their client’s company and their customer demographic.  Maybe grab a long piece of wood to check the entrance of the room to test the floor before you enter.  Many people would not take the time to search for the piece of wood to test the entrance because they don’t like the uncomfortable feeling of not knowing, even though it’s at least safe enough to take one step inside.

  • COMFORT IS COMFY 

It’s not uncommon for someone to stay in an unhealthy relationship because they are comfortable.  It’s not uncommon for someone to stay at a dead-end job because they are comfortable.  It’s not uncommon for someone to stay on a financial programs because they are comfortable.  Being uncomfortable is not fun either. Tonight when you go to sleep or whenever you are going to bed, lay with a brick under the small of your back and fill your pillow with rocks.  That would not be too comfortable would it?  Why would you choose to do that?  Why would you choose to be uncomfortable?  Call me silly for this ridiculous example but, if you did sleep with that brick and pillow of rocks and you suffer back or neck issues and you cured it after a few nights like that, how would that pay off be?  A short time of being uncomfortable could result in a lifetime of comfort.  If sleeping with a brick and rocks doesn’t work for you, you might have to find a new bed.

  • CHANGE IS HARD

Building off the silly bed example, let’s say you need to get a new bed but it’s just a huge setback for you. You’ve had that bed for so long and it’s perfectly broken-in.  Plus, you don’t want to drive to the store(s) to test out the new beds and deal with a pushy salesperson.  Nor do you want to fork over hundreds of dollars.  You finally decide to get up, drive to the store, talk to the pushy salesperson and buy the “stupid” bed and take it home.  That first night is horrible, that first week is horrible, that first month is terrible but all of a sudden you are not remembering falling asleep and waking up more refreshed and energized.  Your change of bed was much more beneficial than you imagined.  The bed example-to some means nothing but to others it is a big deal.  Change will be hard at first, whether it be  a new job, career, life partner, business venture, living situation or whatever the case, it will take patience and perseverance.  But the biggest reason you don’t do anything is because you don’t think you can.

  • “OH YE OF LITTLE FAITH”

If The Little Engine That Could didn’t believe in itself so many children would grow up thinking they couldn’t.  If Aristotle, Einstein, or Galileo didn’t believe in themselves, we’d never know we could.  If you didn’t believe in yourself to begin with you’d never have been sent here by a Heavenly Father.  Belief in oneself is essential to entering no man’s land.  I believe it’s the biggest obstacle in our lives.  Progress does not have a “fully foreseen” path, rather, it has a fixed direction.  I truly believe that we’d never make it out alive if we didn’t believe in ourselves.  Think of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, Simón Bolivar, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, even Jesus Christ.  What if these widely inspirational people didn’t believe in themselves?  I will leave that to you to mull over in your head.  Believing in yourself is entering no man’s land mentally.

To overcome fear,a comfortable state, pride and lack of faith, you need to mentally enter into no man’s land.  Let your mind work its magic and think of all the wonderful possibilities of the unknown.  You will build faith by figuring out what you can do with the land.  You will be able to see yourself succeeding.  The war is mentally entering that unknown and the battle is physically entering.  You will have more confidence, patience, calmness, and faith if your mind has conquered the unknown, once your mind has said “I can make it.”  I have entered into no man’s land and it was eternally beneficial for me.  I lived a different lifestyle before I chose to change.  I feared to enter, I was comfortable, the change was tough, and I didn’t believe at first.  I am forever grateful for what I was able to accomplish.  Your case is probably similar.

You could be standing at that the door of the dark room scared to enter.

You could be comfortable with the brick in your bed.

You could be scared to change the old mattress.

You could be repeating in your mind, “I can’t,” “there’s no way,” “how could I make a difference?”

I tell you TAKE THE FIRST STEP and see the room light up with gold, REALIZE that brick is causing damage, BUY the new bed, and say “I CAN,” “I AM THE WAY,” AND “I CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.”  Once you enter no man’s land you own that land.  You get to really shine.

 If no one entered no man’s land we’d all be stuck in our trenches.

be happy.