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Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Posted on November 16, 2006
Filed Under Motivation, Personal Development, Self Improvement, Self-Help Tools, Spirituality, Success |

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. – Aristotle

“Comfort Zone” sounds nice doesn’t it? However, your comfort zone is the worst place to be, it means you have stopped trying and you are no longer challenged by your current situation. It means you have accepted defeat and decided to live with it. It also means that it is time for change.

““Homeostasis” (comfort zone)… It is your unconscious tendency to be drawn irresistibly toward doing what you’ve always done. This inability to break free of the tentacles of the past is the reason most people accomplish far less than they are capable of and remain unfulfilled and dissatisfied for most of their lives.” – Brian Tracy, Maximum Achievement.

Comfort zones take on many forms, you can find yourself comfortable with a pain in your side, yes, it is possible to get used to pain, when you notice you are not in pain, it means you are in a comfort zone of physical pain. You can be in a comfort zone of poverty. You need more than $20 a week for groceries no matter what you tell yourself, if you can’t afford to budget more than $20 a week or every paycheck for groceries even with your full-time job then it is “decision time” time to do something.

Life can easily get you to your comfort zone, even if it means living in pain for the rest of your life. How many of us have continued doing the same old thing knowing fully well we are not living to our full potential? Are you staying in a job because you know everything there is to know about the job to the point that you can do it with your eyes closed? If you are not learning something new or seeing progress (this can come in form of a promotion, active membership in professional organization, professional recognition or new and better job in the same industry) then you are in a comfort zone and you need to start to rethink things.

Maybe you are completely happy with your job but you are so comfortable in your social life, you know, Friday night with a quart of ice cream and a good movie. Okay, maybe something not so cliché but we all know that the ice cream and a movie part is the truth and one cannot find more of a comfort zone than that if they tried.

Is it that book you promised yourself you would wake up two hours early to write but six years later you still can’t get out of bed early enough? Maybe waking up early will be stepping way too far out of your comfort zone and we could all use that extra two hours sleep. Here is a good way to get two extra hours of sleep, turn the TV off two hours early and get to sleep, in other words step out of your comfort zone.

What are you doing in your life today that has become second nature and no longer challenges you?

Do you wish for change but you don’t know how to start or do you feel like you don’t have the energy to start making those changes?

Here is a list of things you can start doing today to help gently coax you out of your comfort zone:

  • Answer this question: Are you in a rut? If the answer is yes, then you are definitely in the right place.

  • List all the areas in your life today that you find yourself living safely in the middle of a comfort zone.

  • Pick each item from the list above and write down what the ideal alternative would be. For example:
    Comfort Zone: I am okay with the mess my home is in, I know where everything is and I will put stuff in their proper place once I have the time.
    Ideal Alternative: I live in a clutter free environment where everything is where it should be and I can invite people in without feeling embarrassed.

  • Create a game plan, an action plan of sorts what would you do first. Make sure you do not create a plan that will scare your right back into your comfort zone. Break the items down into very small steps, like, “Today, I will pick up five things every time I walk past that hallway.”

  • Make a promise to yourself to do something everyday.

    • The list is short because like I mentioned the idea is to coax you out of your comfort zone not push you out with so much force that you make a 360 degree turn right back to square one. You are trying to change something that is embedded in your subconscious as “the best place to be.” So you need to reprogram your mind and this takes time and effort, more effort than time. You just have to want to change your current situation.

    You might ask, “If I am comfortable the way things are, why change?” And I will ask, “Are you happy with the way things are?”

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    Comments

    One Response to “Step Out of Your Comfort Zone”

    1. Dol on December 24th, 2006 2:07 pm

      It is so easy to get stuck in a “comfort zone” and to change you do have to step out of your comfort zone. I love your website too, great articles.

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