We all have a comfort zone. That place where we feel psychological, physical and emotionally safe. It can be a state of mind, a place, a social context, an activity or behaviour where we feel completely safe.
We need this space as our go-to zone throughout life. Why would it ever be necessary to leave a comfort zone then? Well, we all need to adapt, change and develop to survive as well. And these things can only happen outside our comfort zone.
Most of us are used to leaving our comfort zone from time to time for a little while. However, a lot of people also recognise the need for bigger changes and transitions but never dare to leave their comfort zone for long enough to make a significant positive impact to their lives. And the longer we stay in or near our comfort zone, the harder it becomes to leave. And we end up stuck!
Stuck in our daily routines and patterns, stuck in our way of thinking and behaving, stuck in our way of viewing people and the world and stuck with everything that we have long hated and wanted to change.
Even when presented with the obvious benefits of change and the even more obvious downsides of no change, we often don’t leave our comfort zone anyway.
Here is the good news: You don’t actually have to leave your comfort zone for very long at the time to start noticing positive changes in your life. And as you get more and more comfortable with leaving it, you also start to embrace the obvious benefits of learning and experiencing new things, which only makes you want to do it more.
So, start small and take it from there. You will notice some really positive transformations in both your way of thinking and your behaviour as you go along:
1) Settling for mediocre just to avoid stepping outside your comfort zone is too big a price to pay. Too late in life you will discover and start to regret all the things you never dared to do, because they required a little risk or a new pattern. We humans only rarely regret things we did, but very often things we never did. When you feel nervous about trying something new, then remember that no matter what happens, you will gain new learning experiences. As you leave your comfort zone, you will replace regret with excitement.
2) Leaving your comfort zone will help you to deal with change and take control of change in a much better way. Change is unavoidable and often scary. Closing your eyes won’t make it go away though. So, make sure you are prepared and ready and don’t miss those wonderful opportunities that change also brings.
3) You will start growing quickly. Just small changes to your daily routine will soon lead to new perspectives in life and you will start to perceive situations and people differently. We are creatures of habit, and it is unbelievable how quickly even the most exciting adventures become habits in our lives once we start to become comfortable with them. So, start taking control of your own growth and seek it out for yourselves to make it as positive and useful for you as possible.
4) You will find out a lot more about your strengths, weaknesses and abilities than you imagined. You are guaranteed to discover new things about yourself. Either things you didn’t knew you could do or abilities you never even dreamt you had in you. You will of course also discover your weaknesses and become more aware of your own standards and boundaries which is only a good thing.
5) You will boost your self-confidence. Trying new things, learning about yourself, expanding your skills and seeing the world in a new light will boost your self-confidence. As you grow your skills and abilities you will become so much more aware of your own influence and the impact you have on the world around you, and you will begin to look at your own place and importance in life in a much more positive light.
6) You will start to feel more in control of your fears. As you boost your self-confidence and take control of your own development, you will discover that your fears and the things you felt nervous about, will start to diminish and even disappear. This is simply because you are in control now! You are not sitting around in your comfort zone waiting for the world to hit you. You are actively creating your own future and seek out what matters to you in life. As you do, your fears simply become less important.
7) You will create new sources of satisfaction. You will discover so many new things that will bring you comfort, satisfaction and pleasure in life. These will all become part of your comfort zone in a new way, but they will also help you to keep learning and keep growing. They will encourage you to leave your comfort zone more as you know they will lead you to new pleasures.
8) You will start to feel more comfortable with the discomfort that is required to reach success. Not everything in life will run smoothly and to gain success we will often have to go through a lot of learning, discomfort and sometimes sacrifices. However, the more experience you get in doing this, the easier it becomes. You will start to notice that taking risks, regardless of outcome, will generate new growth experiences.
9) You will begin to inspire others. This is a really interesting one because often we don’t think of ourselves as someone others will look up to or find inspiration from. However, the more you take risks, step outside your comfort zone and the more you grow – the more people will look at you and find inspiration themselves. Embrace this as a support to motivate your own growth even further.
10) It is only when you start leaving your comfort zone, that your ‘real life’ starts to happen. It is out there waiting for you! No, this is not a wishy-washy life philosophy (although it may sound like it). The thing is, your real life exists way beyond your own personal reflections and thoughts, your feelings, your skills and your beliefs. It is the sum of all your experiences, those you are comfortable with and those you are not.
Leaving your comfort zone is scary and overwhelming. This is why a lot of people never do it but just accept the bad experiences, toxic jobs and relationships or the feeling of being stuck for way too long. We believe the step to be way too big and it becomes way too overwhelming to even try and change the smallest thing in life.
We try to do too much at the same time, and we feel we have failed if we can’t manage to do everything.
Instead, take a small step. One that doesn’t feel too overwhelming at first. And then another one. And another one. This is how growth, learning and new amazing experiences happen. Think about what you really want to do and break it down to small chewable bits.
This is how positive change happens.
We all have it in us to make positive changes and to shape our lives in a way that works for us.
You will have done this before in your life. You can do it again!
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