I have Sebastian Court to thank for the inspiration for this weeks article. One of the topics in a breakout room at a networking meeting on Thursday was how to get out of your comfort zone. We can all get very comfortable here – to such an extent that we just go through the motions, and we stop stretching ourselves. Becoming trapped in the comfort zone for too long can start to become very negative and can emotionally drain us.
We can get comfortable in the work environment, relationship environment or fitness environment for instance. We need to be able to stretch ourselves – whether this be taking a job above a pay grade we think we are worth, extending the distance we are running, or looking for new and innovative ways to enhance our relationship with our life partner.
Without realising it, we will have moved out of our comfort zone on numerous occasions when we were children, but for some reason in adulthood so many people like to stay there and not expand thier horizons.
Lets assume your comfort zone is inside a circle. Outside that circle is a big wide world full of opportunities and new experiences. Most of our friends and family will be inside the circle with us, and if we decide we are going to move outside of the circle, our friends are emotionally pulling us back, as there is safety in numbers. Our friends want us to succeed but not to succeed more than them so if we say we are going for a more senior position in our jobs for instance, they could come up with a number of reasons (excuses) as to why you shouldn’t go for it. The same applies to every area of our life. We have to be strong and have courage of our convictions.
So why should we step outside our comfort zone?
It is important for personal growth. We constantly need to be stretching ourselves. When everything is comfortable, we just go through the motions. We need to be doing what is currently uncomfortable for us until it gets to a stage that it is now comfortable and what was once comfortable is now very uncomfortable, and to be continuously moving in that direction. This will create momentum and once in the rhythm, it cannot be stopped. It will eliminate fear. We are all fearful of certain things and action and momentum will challenge those fears and move us beyond them. We have to programme our minds to work for us and not against us.
Moving outside of our comfort zones is great for personal fulfillment. We all need to be challenged and we all have total control as to how we live our lives – every day of our lives. Every day when we wake us we can choose to be positive or negative – and guess what. Being positive will pull opportunities and relationships to you and not push them away. It will create a new source of total satisfaction.
The other benefit is that will positively affect those you come in contact with. Being outside your comfort zone and constantly challenging yourself will have a massively powerful impact on you and all those you come in contact with.
“Whatever the human mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”
This article was first published on LinkedIn by Richard Knight on 05/04/2021