Comfort Zone:
Your comfort zone is a state of mind where you are familiar with the situation, its outcomes. Practically you know everything about what’s going to happen with your life. This is a perfect place if everything in life would happen according to your plan. However, a lot of what you desire is right outside this zone. Sometimes, you have to take a few steps while at other you have to make sizeable strides.
However, every change no matter how large starts from a single step. In this discussion, we talk about the 10 practical tips to help you jump out of your comfort zone and seize your life.
Why do you want to get out?
- If the comfort zone is so comfortable, why do you want to get out in the first place? There are innumerable number of quotes which tell you that life is outside this comfort zone.
- A simple answer is – your aspirations, desires and dreams. We all are very capable of imaginations and making these imaginations, visualisations come true. This fortunately means that we keep growing at each stage, every single day. This growth might not just be physical but emotional – in your desires, quality of life and aspirations.
- You may get a certain amount of joy in your comfort zone, but unless you start enjoying the pleasures outside of this comfort zone, you are missing out on a new world which can expand your personality in multitude of dimensions.
With that in mind, here are the 10 tips we promised:
1. WHY?
Start with the definition of yourself.
- Who are you as a person?
- What are your aspirations?
- What is your comfort zone?
- Why do you want to get out of this comfort zone?
The last question is the most important one. You cannot start on a journey without the knowledge of why. If you want to come out of a comfort zone, what are your key reasons to do that?
Why do you even want to start thinking of coming out of a cozy and easy state of mind?
2. WHAT HOLDS YOU BACK?
What is your commitment to this comfort zone? Why do you keep coming back to this?
A simple instance might be that you want to talk to someone you really like. But you are unable to take the first step. WHY?
What is holding you back?
- Are you thinking of outcomes that will not work in your favour?
- Do you think they might shoot you down?
- Is it way out of your personality or standards you have set for yourself?
There may be multiple reasons. But what are your reasons. Why are you holding yourself back from a simple change that can start progress for the goal you want to achieve?
3. WHAT ARE YOUR MOTIVATORS?
You need a compelling reason to get out of your comfort zone. If the reasons are not compelling enough, there is no point in trying.
- What excites you about coming out of this comfort zone?
- How will you feel when you are out of it?
- What can you achieve and be capable of when you come out?
- The impact on your confidence and desires
You can think of amazing things that will happen the moment you come out of this comfort zone. What are your reasons? Why does this excite you?
4. FEEL BAD
What are your pain points of staying in this comfort zone? It is all lovely and amazing to think of the beautiful outcomes the moment you come out of a comfort zone.
- What hurts you if you stay in this zone?
- What all do you stand to lose?
- Are you ok with these losses and living a quality of life like this?
It is easy to find solace and rationalisation. If you are looking for results, these results are in actions you are willing to take. The changes you want in your life are right out there. If you are feeling bad about staying in the comfort zone, why are you trying to console yourself?
5. SET YOUR STANDARDS
This is about your new standards. It defines what you are willing to accept or not going ahead with your life. Your desire to come out of the comfort zone is based on a motivator. You need to start defining how this success looks like.
- What are you not willing to accept anymore?
- Who defines what you really want out of life? How does this look?
- Define what every part of this journey looks like. Don’t fall prey into someone else’s standards. This is your life, you need to decide what you want out of it!
6. START SMALL
It is ridiculous to expect to start from sky diving without having appropriate training. You cannot set yourself up for a failure.
- Define the small increments of success. You know what your final journey looks like.
- What are the initial steps to get to your final journey?
- How do you start walking before you start running?
You final journey keeps moving and the comfort zone forever keeps changing. If you have the fear of stage fright, start with talking to few people first. Gain your confidence. But all this while, recognise the small successes all along this way. They are the building blocks for your excitement.
7. PUSH
Nothing ever moves without a push.
- Push yourself into situations which you normally wouldn’t
- These need not be extremely difficult, but just enough to excite you.
- Let the energy and your adrenaline come to your rescue.
Start this process till you become genuinely excited about trying something new. It is within you and trying to find a vent out. Give yourself the opportunity to embrace this.
8. YOUR COACH
We cannot overemphasise the importance of a coach with you.
- This need not be a formal one, but someone who cares enough about you and pushes you out of your comfort zone.
- This is a someone who catches you for the lies you tell yourself
- They know your end goal and you have a lot of respect for them. You would feel awful about disappointing them.
Above all, don’t lie to yourself. If you are committed enough, you will find a way to achieve your goals. If you are not, there are a lot of reasons out there. The choice is quite simply yours for the taking.
The question is, do you really want to get out of your comfort zone? Please join us with your tips and thoughts about how to come out of a comfort zone
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someone whom I can no longer remember had once said that you can be either comfortable or awesome but never both
ha ha, that’s a witty statement Suman :). It is always very interesting to know where that person is now. If that was his/her guiding value, I would be very curious to know their journey, mindset and the path life has taken them toward.
Comfort zones are cozy especially for folks my age.But certainly not for the young generation who have the guts and the stamina,though of course the danger of landing in a worse zone is also there.Still,that is the way to evolve.
Good to hear from you Indu. I believe, the danger zone is always a possibility. Perhaps it is an opportunity as well for us to realise what our true passions are and how committed we are to make a difference. This drives me to the quote by Randy Pausch – The brick walls are there for a reason, to test you how strong your passion and desire is.
It is certainly fair to think of the danger zone, think of ways to avoid it and constantly keep moving further. The maturity certainly lies in accepting the challenges of realities as they are while constantly striving to move out. Maybe if not in large strides, simple steps which can make small, sizeable differences in the process
Hmm! Comfort Zone. A majority of us are there no doubt. Just like someone has a graduate degree such as B.A., B’Com, B.Sc. etc., perhaps people also have CBH, CJS. Getting out of these is the most difficult job. Getting to 8th point straight away would sometimes become easy for those who cannot follow the first few points.
Nice post Vinay.
Nice points. Set promise or goals is important and more important to keep that promise.
Thank you Arun. The comfort zone is quite a nice cozy place to be in. But the pursuit of consciously getting out of it is pretty impressive :)
Inspiring indeed. All the points you have mentioned are really motivating and easy to implement in busy life. Sometimes, such inspirational words become like sermons, so we often tend to ignore them after reading, but you have made them easy to imbibe and adapt. Great post. Thank you for spreading these words. :)
Thank you Sangeeta, you are very kind in your words. I really hope these can be of some use. I understand motivation is never easy and we constantly have to be at it. The more we try, the better we get at it. For me, comfort zone confrontations have been very interesting. There are times I have loved it and there are times where I have cursed it often. But in essence, i really like the capabilities I have today and I can thank the push to get out of that comfort zone proactively.
Totally loved the fifth and sixth points ! It is very important to set up standards and make promises to oneself ! Now everytime I think its Ok that its happening then i am going to put a full stop to it by saying “This is not who I am, I am better than this” ! Loved the post!
He he, I think we develop a sense of tolerance at times which is not the best thing to happen to us. If we stand up straight and say – I stand up for better values and standards than this, they start making a real difference and impact in our approach and view of circumstances in front of us. After all, if we start looking at our true potential, there is an awful lot to amaze us.
Amazing points, Vinay. A wonderful article :)
Mostly we all know what exactly holds us back and we procrastinate around it. But yes we need to get the better of our laziness, Couldn’t help smiling after reading Kokila’s point about making the other person lazy too. .
Procrastination is a very strong point Somali. I have been a fair victim to that habit. It has rarely worked for me. I have often tried to rationalise this with the motivation in the rush of a deadline. Although the motivation is good and pushes me right out of the comfort zone, it is rather difficult cos it doesn’t get my best work done on time.
All points are fair enough Vinay ! And I think, can be done too :) But as you know so well about individual choices, do you know, pairing -up rarely suits me:( Somehow I end up making the other person lazy too :P
SO its me, myself and me alone :/
But I DO agree :D
Ha ha, the influence of a stronger personality. I have almost had a 50-50 success in this front. At some times I have been really adamant not to let anyone influence me at all . But there have been moments I have enjoyed the company which has pushed me in slight amounts, esp when it comes to fitness and sports. For rest, I am bit of a nightmare to work with :D
Seriously workful !!
i am surely gonna work this out !!
Thnks for sharing :)
Thank you Shraddha. It will be lovely to know how useful they have been and your observations.
Great points buddy!