It is from the Course of Miracles, the idea that in any decision we have to make, we have a choice as to whether we come from a place of fear or a place of love.  It may not be a shaking in our boots type fear, but the idea that we have another agenda going on, expectations or limitations happening.

1. When I am coaching I talk about the red zone and the green zone.  Red is when we are struggling, anxious, frustrated, low, angry, things aren’t going as we would wish.  The green zone is where there is flow, connection, progress, joy, laughter and way more!  I don’t think you need me to tell you that the red zone can be described as fear and the green one love.

2. I also talk about our false identity that shows up when we are living in the red zone and have taken on our core beliefs as truths.  However, it is a far cry from our true self that can be found more and more in the green zone and is far closer to the person we were put on the planet to be our authentic self.  When we choose love, we are choosing from a wholesome green zone place, where we are meeting our needs and living aligned to our values.

3. When we come from fear, the red zone, we can find ourselves making excuses and blaming, but from the green zone, from love, we are speaking the truth, our truth and we are taking responsibility for our actions.

4. Although what we may be needing and craving is a connection, when we are in the red zone, we can often tend to isolate ourselves.  In fact, when helping clients uncover their red zone and gain more awareness about it, isolation and withdrawal are probably some of the actions I hear happening for most people when they are struggling.  When we are living more in the green zone, our world opens up, we can be more confident, we want to connect, we make plans and meet our human needs of connection and togetherness.

5. When making plans from the red zone we may be self-centred focusing on what we want to do, with no room for compromise.  From the green, there is room for negotiation and an interest in making the activity or situation work for everyone.

6. Another activity that I think would be pretty up there is phone usage for people in the red zone; that its use for games or social media tends to increase.  Yet in the green zone, not only do we tend to have more (wholesome things) going on in our world, we are more present and often the phone goes away.

7. When we are making decisions, one made from fear can often be to do with lack, mistrust, doubt, yet one made from love is full of faith, trust and abundance.

8. The red zone can feel that we are trapped, helpless, and have no options.  The green zone, can help us feel free, give us hope, and we can start to see the opportunities that are around us.  Saying that I understand that the thought of that green zone can be very hard for some.  They may absolutely want it and create the absolute ideal life in their mind, but it can be scary.  However uncomfortable the red zone is, it can feel familiar, we know how we show up in it and we know how others react to us when we are in that place.  It can feel daunting to think about the green zone, which is why I am such a big fan of tiny steps!

9. Expectations can creep in when we are in the red zone. With expectations, most often someone gets disappointed, and most, most often the person that gets disappointed is the person that set the expectations.  Sometimes these expectations that are put on someone are not even communicated, so we really are setting ourselves up for things to go wonky.  When we are coming from the green zone, we are setting intentions, things that we are communicating and we are doing our bit to see them into fruition.

10. In the red zone, there are often few boundaries that can lead to people-pleasing, and more miscommunications.  Boundaries are so healthy and will be found in the green zone, as it is wholesome giving when we have our tanks topped up and giving to those around us from that place.

What is resonating from here for you? 

When I help clients uncover their core beliefs, ie what is playing out in their red zone, they often share that they can’t remember when they were in the green zone, or that the red zone is very familiar, perhaps all they have ever known.  I reassure them that that is about to change, we all have a red zone, and we may well dip in and out of the red and green many times a day; but the key is understanding its there, understanding what is underneath it all, and what the steps are to, not only get back to the green but build and really embed and experience that green zone even more!

Do you want to know about your red and green zone? Get in touch with me at liz@liz-fry.com.