Benefits of Steping Outside of Your Comfort Zone
Many modern gurus urge us to go out of the comfort zone actively. It is there, outside of this incomprehensible thing that waits for happiness, untold wealth and many other excellent bonuses. An attempt to transform oneself does not always lead to the fall of diamonds from the sky. The concept of the comfort zone is entirely confusing from where to go and how not to turn this journey into a traumatic experience.
If you think about it, then comfort is not such a useless thing. It is difficult to argue, for example, with the fact that a walk on a cold, dank day will be more useful and pleasant if you dress warmly and put shoes on something that is not very wet and certainly more comfortable. Hence, the logical question, does it make any sense to leave it at all? After all, if everything is well, then why perform feats and torture yourself. This subjective “good,” in my opinion, is a very accurate indicator of whether it is time to do something with the comfort zone.
On the one hand, every living organism seeks to evolve somehow and develop — the most flexible and inventive survive in conditions of the unpredictability of life. On the other hand, we strive to save ourselves and use what we have previously shown to be a practical tool. A kind of Yin-yang is obtained, a mixture of movement and rest, change and rooting. One of the basic human needs after pure physiology is safety and we feel protected when we know for sure that nothing unexpected will happen in response to this particular action. The trap of consciousness and the comfort zone in a negative sense lies in this burden to the constant. Because very often, between the familiar and the new, we choose the first, even if it has long been not so pleasant, but very casual and understandable. A significant first step is to realize your dissatisfaction and admit to yourself that you are stuck somewhere high.
Therefore, it is time to change something if the current state of affairs is sufficient and the second indicator that a jam has occurred in the comfort zone is the fear of a new one. For example, you want to master the skills of communication, and have already become tormented to be silent at meetings and to say something is what. However, the mere thought of loudly expressing your position to a group of people causes horror. Therefore, you keep silent in the little corner, accumulating dissatisfaction with yourself. It happens until the desire to change something becomes at least half a percent more fear of change.
I have a personal example, which, perhaps, can be decomposed on the shelves. It so happened that I did not have a particularly strong relationship with various mechanical means of transportation. Adrenaline shakes never entered the rating of favorite experiences. Among the untapped inventory was a regular bike. Sometimes I tried to approach the iron horse according to the principle “well, we must try, everyone can, everyone likes”, but a couple of unsuccessful attempts and other circumstances led to only one conclusion – it is very, very scary and it is not clear how people do it and how do we react at the level of instincts when we are afraid? That is right: run, hide, ignore, protest, resist and in no way wish to accept the situation and adapt to it.
For several years, the bicycle and everything connected with it was relegated to the background; I decided that this skill was not particularly necessary for me as compared with the suffering involved. Such a state of affairs became uncomfortable once on a European vacation, where it was easier, faster and more enjoyable to move around the neighborhood just on a two-wheeled friend. The question of why I might need it, immediately found my answer, because I want to return to those extraordinary places repeatedly. So in my mind, quite tangible benefits were outlined, which at least turned out to be comparable to what needs to be overcome. There was a birth of the goal and the corresponding motivation. Until that moment, I was sometimes embarrassed in front of other people, but there was no unique sense in overcoming myself and intimidating the grimaces of the horror of oncoming children.
Coming out of the comfort zone is a change of permanent and we can do this qualitatively and with a benefit when we understand what we need and, most importantly, why. Therefore, the next step is to ask yourself two questions: what exactly do I want (where, when, how and with whom) and what will happen when I achieve this.
Now about the hidden pitfalls, which we often stumble over, getting out of the comfort zone is an attempt to embrace the immense and achieve instant results. In my case, before the appearance of a clear goal and motivation, attempts to master the bicycle took place according to the principle “as a child, it worked, I would sit and go.” The very first unsuccessful attempts were accompanied by a series of aggravating circumstances in the form of the frustrated faces of my bicycle riders and their frank frustration over the failed rides along the forest paths.
Success happened when a big task turned into a sequence of small steps. One kind person after a secure briefing just left me on a deserted and level path with the words “agree on your own, if anything, I am nearby.” There, I listened to my body, learned to keep balance, and drove the first ten meters. Then a hundred, two hundred, and a little later reached super-heights and was even able to go around people and rejoice, picking up speed. It is the most effective method. Of course, it is excellent to become a master of negotiations and public speaking right away, but rarely when it is possible. For some reason, we forget about it when it comes to a smaller change and give up if we do not have the strength to fly to the desired height straight away. Any habit takes time, any new is first mastered, and only then integrates into life, becoming its normal part. It is more logical and more productive to expand and update its existing space gradually. The wise Chinese said this, that quickly – it is slow without interruptions. So the chances of achieving results are much higher.
Creativity and renewal are necessary for our brain, man as a system, to continually expand our horizons – and ultimately live a happier and more fulfilling life. Therefore, in addition to purposefully going out of their comfort zone, it is useful in principle to develop creativity and get used to small, but regular changes. A simulator can be anything, the main thing is to go beyond the usual: getting to know a new person, changing the usual route, an unusual hobby, a book or a movie, a restaurant of Indian cuisine and even rearranging the furniture. Do not stop, grow and leave the comfort zone with benefit!