No Comfort Zone: Change is a Good Thing, So Dive In!

What did you do today? Was it the same as yesterday and the day before? Do you know your schedule like you know the back of your hand? Are you caught in your comfort zone?

Would you consider making a change if the opportunity arose?

I often talk about the dreaded “comfort zone” and what a detriment it can be to your productivity, well-being, and overall success. This article is going to take a deeper look at some of the side effects of being too “comfortable” and some of the benefits of taking risks.

Comfort zone Chris Deblasio
Growth does not happen inside your comfort zone.

I want you to think for a moment: what do you tend to gravitate toward — being comfortable, or taking risks? There are two primary types of people: those who feel that to take risks is unnecessary and reckless, and those who thrive on risks and who hate to be in their comfort zone.  (Although, let me say that this is a generalization. There, of course, are some people who do not fit inside any mold. For this article, I’m going to be discussing the opposite ends of the spectrum.) * I will also say here that sometimes, you need to get down to business and take care of business matters. I do not advocate taking unnecessary or uncalculated risks.

For this article, I wanted to take a few of the items that I mentioned in my video on change and expand on those ideas for you.

Refuse to Let Fear Win: Don’t Be Afraid to Step Away from Your Comfort Zone

Most people have a great fear of something different because “different” can be very uncomfortable. If you want to be successful, you must move outside your comfort zone. But what if we take a look at that word: different, and define it for what it really is?

As children – especially babies – each moment of our lives was a new challenge. Crawling, walking, talking, laughing. Each new (different) skill was a moment to celebrate.

And those moments of celebration gave us inner joy.

Did we fall when we were learning to walk? YES! Did that hurt? YES!

But the reward was worth the uncomfortable learning process.

Have you ever watched a toddler try to walk for the first time? She will get up, fall, get up, fall, get up, cry a little, fall, get up, fall…over and over.

Once that child decides that NOW is the time to walk, nothing is going to stop it from happening. But the process isn’t easy.

Have you ever seen a baby just give up and decide that crawling is good enough?

Exactly. It’s in our nature to want to learn, to grow, and to step out of our comfort zone. If you find yourself afraid of that, remember that being a little uncomfortable is not a bad thing. On the contrary. When you feel a little nervous, a bit unsure and scared, you might be about to make a breakthrough.

When You “Just Do It” It’s Impossible to Be Afraid: Take Action!

When you spend time complaining and worrying, what you are really doing is NOT spending time on accomplishing your goals. It’s really simple. Neuroscience states that it’s impossible to focus on more than one thing at a time. Period.

For instance: as I write this, I cannot think about what’s going to happen tomorrow. As soon as I do that, my thoughts about this article stop. It’s like listening to voices: you can focus on only one (and fully understand it) at a time.

When you know that in order to achieve something you must get out of that comfort zone, just jump in!

Chris DeBlasio - Comfort Zone
When you dive in a go for it, you’ll be amazed at the opportunity on the other side!

And it’s really just like diving into a cold pool. For a second, you worry about how cold it will be. You cringe a little. You’d kind of rather stay dry, but you really want to have fun with the rest of the crowd.

So you decide, commit, and JUMP!

Yes, it’s cold for a couple seconds. But then your body acclimates to the temperature change and you start having fun.

Now if you’d never jumped in, you would have stayed dry. But you’d be outside the circle of fun, and that’s not truly living life to the fullest.

So go ahead! Walk, Run, Jump in. Just do it and stop being afraid of a little change. You won’t believe the possibilities.

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