Challenge Your Comfort Zone, Don’t Get Confined to it

 Do you confine to your comfort zone?  

“If you never take a risk, you will never know what changes you need to make.”

-Paulo Coelho

Changes always come with challenges and change is the only constant in life till the time you fall in the trap of your comfort zone which is so placid and alluring that one prefers to stagnate over growing and exploring new horizons. Have you ever felt resistance in switching jobs, relocating different cities, taking up new hobbies, upskilling yourself or learning new activities? If yes, nothing to worry about it, human mind always resists change. It is we who have to decide whether we should continue and stagnate or gear up and glow with the change. Mostly, it has been observed that we deny the opportunities and future prospects because we don’t want to face anything unfamiliar and challenging. We all know that there will be no rewards without risks yet we don’t muster courage to cross the threshold and breathe in open air. Let’s try a small activity of self-communion- Ask yourself a question, before making a new choice in your personal or professional life: What’s the best and what’s the worst that can happen if I go ahead? The answer of this question in both the cases will help you address your sense of fear and discomfort and help you build equanimity if you choose to dismantle the layers of your comfort zone.

Let’s read about a few practices that can help you challenge your comfort zone and how not to get confined to it:

Find Out the Reasons of Fear

We don’t want to step out of our comfort zone as we fear new and unknown. We love being cooped up in the same environment for years just for the sake of feeling safe and comfortable. We don’t want to break the boundaries of inhibitions, stagnation and monotony despite knowing that this type of attitude can take a toll on our professional opportunities and personal growth. Whenever you want to make a choice for yourself; your subconscious mind repels to venture beyond the comfort zone, so training your mind is very important here. No one wants to choose challenging or risky options; we think what most of the people are doing and we also start following them in a bid to play safe, sail safe. Here I would like to quote Robert Frost’s lines:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence;

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I-

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.”

 

-The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

 

These lines clearly indicate how difficult it is to make choices in life, but when you make a good and distinctive choice for yourself, you always stand out as one among the crowd. So learn to make choices by finding out your fears and conquer them all with Your Grit and Determination.

 

Keep Telling Yourself, “I am Fearless”

Communication with your body, mind and soul is very important as this works as a tool to align your thoughts and actions in a positive manner. Speaking to yourself opens your heart to infinite possibilities and gets yourself accustomed to whatever emerges. Make a daily habit of self-communion and tell yourself that you are fearless and ready to survive in any situation; you will be able to come out of your comfort zone very easily. In this world there is nothing like Midas touch, things never fall so easily as it seems when we look at others, one has to invest a lot to gain something. So the first step that you take to come out of your comfort zone is to feel fearless. If you walk fearlessly, accept new challenges wholeheartedly; your chances of being rewarded will be higher so speak to yourself, “I am Fearless.”

 

Identify Your Instincts and Impulsive Acts

When we become subservient to our changing emotional states, we quickly catch ourselves starting to feel insecure and anxious. We often react impulsively and fail to follow our instincts. If you receive any negative feedback and feel offended and develop a strong desire to react to it; just wait for a moment, take a step back and think this situation in a different way. You are being given one more opportunity to unleash your potential and prove yourself. When you start listening to your instincts and identify your impulsive behaviour, you get yourself ready for any storm or turbulence which ultimately takes you to a point where no concept of comfort zone exists. You start flowing with everything you have in hand and appreciate your surroundings and your life as it unfolds. 

Take Pride in Your Accomplishments

Thinking about your glorious achievements always fills you with a sense of completeness in yourself. Keep reminding yourself about your self-worth and accomplishments so that you can display grace and magnanimity in any situation and this attitude will propel you to break the boundaries of your comfort zone without much hesitance and aversion. Sometimes thinking and planning of going out of your comfort zone threatens your survival and sounds so formidable that you daren’t to deal with the decision-making. At that moment if you recall everything that you had achieved in your past; you will find that these challenges are so petty and trivial; it gives you a momentum to change the list of your growth goals and you define yourself in an exuberant way.

Recommended Read: The-Conundrum-of-Commitment

Practice Exploring at Smaller Levels also

If you find anything uncomfortable, try to do it until you become PRO at it. It can be taking a different route to your workplace, talking to new clients, public speaking, smaller changes in daily routine, adapting new fitness regime, exploring new restaurants and new cuisines; just keep experimenting with all the different approaches so as to allow your mind and body to accommodate in different situations. It sounds little quirky but it really works!

The moment we find ourselves in the cocoon of our comfort zone, we begin to underestimate our innate ability to adapt and get familiar with new and strange things. Staying long with your comfort zone make you socially and professionally inept and you end up yourself in an impasse where nothing brings joy and satisfaction to you. It’s time to identify your strengths and leverage them to conquer your comfort zone. Let’s never forget, we learn and grow the most when we are in discomfort. The only thing we need to learn is how to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.