Do you have a comfort zone? For most people, a ‘first time event’ is very real and uncomfortable so they tend to retreat to a place that is familiar and comfortable. In your comfort zone you may feel secure, but be careful because your safe place can also trap you and become a hindrance to your growth and success.
A comfort zone is an amazing place of security, comfort, safety, and protection. A place where everything feels safe and familiar. Stepping outside this zone can be scary and lonely, because it involves stretching and growing.
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.
Neale Donald Walsch
What Happens When You Leave Your Comfort Zone?
Getting out of your comfort zone may require you to do something you are not confident in attempting. Most of the things we fear are emotional – fear of failing, or ridicule, or criticism.
On the flip side, when you leave your safe place, amazing things can happen. Instead of life remaining the same, it can expand and grow, potentially becoming more fulfilling. We all have anxiety when we try something new, but doing it once can build confidence and lead to attempting new projects and endeavours.
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Benefits of Increasing Your Comfort Zone
There are so many benefits to expanding your comfort zone, but here are a few:
1. Increased Creativity
Comfort zones have no energy or growth and become stale. By stepping outside your safe zone, you’ll have new life experiences that will spark your creativity in new ways and give you more resources to fuel your creativity. Ideas spark more ideas.
2. Increased Success
With your comfort zone expanded, it is easier to keep everything in perspective. This allows you to plan and set realistic goals which lead to success.
Ask yourself:
What can I learn from this experience?
What are the benefits for me to master this new thing?
What can I learn if I fail?
When you push yourself beyond your comfort zone, you activate a deadline type urgency which allows you to get more done in less time, by finding smarter ways to do your tasks.
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3. Increased Knowledge
Leaving your comfort zone gives you the opportunity to learn and research the choices you want to make and the things you want to try, thus expanding your knowledge. Once you learn a new skill, it will leave you feeling more alive.
4. Increased Productivity
When you don’t allow issues and fears to stop you from reaching your goals it enables you to become much more productive.
5. Increased Resiliency
Life is far from perfect. It is full of speed bumps and hard knocks. But how you recover from getting knocked down and getting back up is essential for growth. Each trial and tribulation you experience help you become more resilient. With resiliency, you can brush yourself off, reevaluate, and switch directions when needed.
6. Increased Mindfulness
Leaving your comfort zone will leave you feeling more alive than ever because everything is new. Your five senses will come alive, allowing you to focus on the little things, being present and mindful.
7. Increased Confidence
Every time you leave your comfort zone, you’ll gain more confidence and increase your inner strength. Each time you step forward, the confidence boost will make the next thing you want to try even easier. This applies to big and little things.
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8. Increased Personal Growth
Pushing through your fears changes you, allowing you to grow and feel great about yourself. It allows you to know yourself on a deeper level, which is essential to choosing the right life path in the future.
How Can You Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone?
Here are some simple steps successful people do to push their boundaries:
Take The First Step
Taking the first step is always the hardest part. Start by being brave for thirty seconds, enough to take the initial plunge. But if you push yourself past your limits, you’ll build momentum.
Find A Good Reason
It is hard to step out of your safe zone but finding a good reason can motivate you to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Push Past Your Fear
When you are too afraid to try new things, you can’t succeed, which affects your self-esteem. If you face your fears, you realize that it often comes with feeling exhilaration and pride.
Try Something New Every Day
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone should become your new normal. Change your routine daily. When you get used to trying out new things, it will surprise you how each change becomes less intimidating and getting out of your comfort zone becomes easier.
Maintain Balance
Balance is essential, so don’t overdo it. It is still important to have that space where you can be emotionally safe and comfortable and where you can process your experiences. Make a cycle out of advancing, then retreating and relaxing.
Last Words on Comfort Zones
Expanding your comfort zone allows you to become smarter, more resilient, by helping you to achieve your goals and make your dreams a reality. When one thing builds upon another, it allows you to achieve more. Just know that it takes time to become comfortable with something different.
When you get to know yourself in a more in-depth manner, you will realize that you are in total control of your life, and you will become more fulfilled and happier.
Feature image by vampire86d from Pixabay.
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