What
is a "Comfort Zone" anyway?
Wikipedia defines it as the following: "A comfort zone
denotes that limited set of behaviors that a person
will engage without becoming anxious.
Alternatively denoted as a "plateau" it describes that
set of behaviors that have become comfortable,
without creating a sense of risk."
Your Comfort Zone is the way you do things, the way
you think, the things you believe. It is familiar
territory, and it is where you feel SAFE.
It is also where you will get the same results you
always get, again SAFE. Safe is good, right?
Is
it?
That job you don't enjoy; staying there is safe, but
is that good for you?
That relationship that makes you feel badly; holding
onto it is safe, but what is the cost to you?
Those beliefs you learned as a kid; holding on to them
is safe, and it certainly keeps your family happy,
but do those beliefs create good things for you when
you go out in the world?
That negative thinking; it's safe since it keeps you
from ever being disappointed, but how many exciting
opportunities have gone away when you said, "I don't
want to", or "That won't work", or "I already tried
that before?"
Your comfort zone is good news/ bad news; it's easy
and you get to feel safe, but you also get to stay
stuck. Life is grayer, there's little or no
excitement, and moving ahead to bigger and better
things for your life never gets to be more than a
dream. The longer you stay in a comfort zone, the
darker it gets, as your dissatisfaction with
stagnation increases. You may even reach the point
where you feel desperate for things to change. But
until you are ready to let go of "totally safe" and
embrace possibility thinking and risk, you will remain
in your suffocating cocoon.
The good news is that Life Coaches help people deal
with these issues all the time. In a perfect world
all of our clients would be totally ready to take the
leap into the new and unknown. More
often we see people while they are still holding on to
"safe". Fortunately, there are effective techniques
that coaches can use with their clients to make the
journey into the new less daunting. Having a
cheerleader behind you and someone to talk to about
your anxieties helps too.
Here's more from the Wikipedia definition:
"Highly successful persons may routinely step outside
their comfort zones, to accomplish what they wish.
To step outside a person's comfort zone, he must
experiment with new and different behaviors, and then
experience the new and different responses that then
occur within his environment."
In
fact, successful people step out of comfort and take
risks on a regular basis. They do it all the time.
Are they just braver then the rest? Nope. They have
simply learned that every time they try something new,
the next time it gets easier and reaching beyond the
comfort zone eventually stops feeling like such a big
deal.
How ready are you to step outside your comfort zone?
