Comfort is easy. We are afraid of insecurity, uncertainty, loss, discomfort, pain, and so we seek to guard ourselves against the bitterness of life by spending our lives in unnatural, climate-controlled boxes which are protected from unwelcome interruption. Getting stuck in a routine is easy to do. Comfort zones encourage an attitude of learned helplessness or hopelessness, making progress or evolutions tiffer. In our comfort zone, there is a sense of friendliness, security, safety and predictability. Psychologically, our comfort zone is the place we are most at home.The comfort zone is a "behavioral space where our activities and behaviors fit a routine and pattern that minimizes stress and risk." Within our comfort zones there is little stress and strain. Many of us are reluctant to move out of our comfort zones.We feel great in our comfort zones, but it is not where we need to be.“A ship in harbor is safe,but that is not what ships are built for.”
The capability to take risks by marching outside our comfort zone is the rudimentary or primary way by which we grow. In reality, comfort zones are not really about comfort, they are about anxiety or fear. We have to break the chains of fear to get outside. Once we do, we will learn to enjoy the process of taking risks and growing in the process. While staying in our comfort zone can result in constant, stable performance, walking out of our comfort zone into a new and thought-provoking task can create the conditions for ideal performance. Learning, creating, growing happen only when we step outside our castle and endeavor into the wilderness.People who regularly seek out fresh experiences tend to be more productive and emotionally resilient than those who remain stuck in routine.
Innovation or invention happens when we move outside our comfort zone. Being stagnant in routine often results in plunging creativity or ingenuity. Brian Tracy rightly said,“Move out of your comfort zone.You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.” Whatever goal we are trying to accomplish, there is no doubt at some stage we have to make a move that feels uncomfortable at some point.Greatness is found beyond our comfort zones. There are plenty of ways to step outside of our comfort zone and extend our boundaries. Here are some means which help us to become more fecund or productive and escape whatever has been holding us back:
Change your daily routine
Most of us have a pre arranged and monotonous daily routine, by making small changes to this we can push ourselves to step outside of our comfort zone. We do not have to make huge changes or modifications, minor differences in our day-to-day routine can be enough to transform our standpoint.
Change your mindset
Changing our thoughts can help us to travel in the direction we want. We should change our frame of mind. We should consider our comfort zone not as a shelter but a prison. We should learn to encompass profitable discomfort. We should select challenge over comfort, and set goals that compel or induce us to get out of our comfort zone.
Get comfortable with uncomfortable
One way to get outside of our comfort zone is to literally expand it. We should design a goal to avoid running away from discomfort.We should progressively enlarge the border of our comfort zone. We should push the walls out and do not try to knock them down.We must learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Discover your fears
There are certain general fears that we have that keep us trapped like the fear of success or the fear of failure. To get unstuck, we should first need to discover and identify what fears may be holding us back. Then we can work to face and resolve them so that we can move ahead with what we want in life.Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Rediscover your motivation
We all have an ambitious vision of who we want to be and what we want to achieve. However, we become comfortable for what is good instead of pushing for greatness. We need our vision or prophecy to be strong again. By going back to our vision we will find the drive and desire to take the first step out of our comfort zone.
Hang out with like-minded people
If we want to become better at something, we must start hanging out with the people who are doing what we want to do and start emulating or following them. Certainly their influence and inspiration will start have an impact on our conduct and comportment.
Take baby steps
The best way to get in the habit of taking action is to do a little every day instead of a lot in one day. We should take consistent small steps out of our comfort zone. We should not attempt to jump outside our comfort zone swiftly. If we do that we will likely become devastated or shocked and jump right back in.
Always Learn
Knowledge is a strong device that will help us to invent new opportunities and prospects. We need to find out what we want to get better at and put our energy into improving because we can do just about anything when we put our mind to. We have to set a goal to learn new things and we need to cultivate the habit of reading. Reading will increase our vocabulary and help us to express our goals precisely.
Let go of your past
We human beings generally carry around unwanted baggage. We store unnecessary and harmful feelings, sentiments, emotions and experiences because we do not know how to let them go and move on. Sometimes the only way to truly put down old baggage is to fill our hands with a new set of belongings.
As a final point, once we commit to the steps discussed above, after some time this new action will no longer be a challenge and it will become our comfort zone. We must keep pushing the borders of our comfort zone if we want to continue growing and changing. We are not meant to stop growing and changing. Growth is a lifelong journey that never ends. Stepping out of comfort zone may be like an effort, but it can be a place where we get more energy, vigor and power. This is the place where there is success and life just become more appealing. Outside our comfort zone is where the magic and miracle happens. Frequently we should move our comfort zones towards our goals and thus we do not risk a setback due to regret or remorse. Success comes from taking calculated risks, not by living in a bubble and hoping for the best. As soon as we realize how much we actually enjoy stepping outside of our box, the things that once we feared will no longer be of any coercion to us. We should learn to love the unknown.All successful people made tough decisions and stepped out of their comfort zones. Getting out of our comfort zone can greatly result to a rewarding experience because this triggers growth and progress. If we choose to remain in our comfort zone we will never find out what our true potential or aptitude is or what we are capable of accomplishing. We cannot really succeed at anything without venturing out of the comfort of our safety net.
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