Right after my bachelors degree three jobs offered phenomenal packages to join their team. It took me a week to get through all three interviews and the offer was made, which took me from full time student to part-time employee and my life-career choice: working with violent individuals.
My Pollyanna spirit was undaunted!
The same spirit has helped me work with over 400 people and show them a healthier way to build relationships. The only condition: my introverted side needed to take a seat and the group work needed my energy. I was uncomfortable for at least six months. Now I own an agency and business to do exactly what I did six years ago. I stepped into uncomfortableness to be comfortable and confident.
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
What if I told you I’d give you $1,000 to make a significant public speech?
Would you take the offer?
Maybe you cringed at the idea of giving a speech. Like most of us, you probably recoiled immediately, even though it could be lucrative for you! Why didn’t this idea appeal to you?
When the thought of certain activities evokes fear or anxiety within you, it’s because they’re outside your comfort zone. Public speaking, for example, is outside most people’s comfort zone. I learned how to give two, two hour speeches and engage an audience twice a week. Not just any audience, mind you, these were mandated to seek treatment and had no say. I had to win them over.
Your comfort zone is the sphere of activities that you feel comfortable with and accomplishes without negative emotions. It also includes people, places, and things that cause only positive thoughts within you.
How Important is Your Comfort Zone?
Your comfort zone can limit your capabilities and cause you to forsake your dreams and goals, or it can spur you on to great things. In fact, your comfort zone can determine both your personality and your potential for success.
Many successful people achieve their goals because they can expand their comfort zone to get what they want.
Suppose you wish to expand your comfort zone. In that case, you can mentally condition yourself to be comfortable in new situations. You work to overcome your anxiety, achieve your goals, and fulfill your dreams.
“We have to be honest about what we want and take risks rather than lie to ourselves and make excuses to stay in our comfort zone.” –Ray Bennett
Here are some tips you can use to expand your comfort zone and help fight your anxiety about certain situations:
Understand your mindset.
Mental conditioning plays a prominent role in developing your comfort zone. Basically, how we form our comfort zones begins in our minds.
Each of us has preconceived notions of what may be comfortable and what may not be, and we designate mental guidelines to keep us within our comfort zone. Afterall, the brain wants to keep us safe, and any threat to safety surges stress hormones throughout the body.
Unregulated, this creates an unhealthy body and mind, often leading to anxiety ridden mental health conditions. Going through challenges is with a relaxed body (taking healthy breaths, calming your soul and mind, and practice different muscle relaxation points can help).
You have chosen your own comfort zone boundaries.
Knowing your limitations is the first step to being able to expand them.
Disobey some of your self-imposed rules. If you want to expand your comfort zone, you must let yourself loose from the guidelines you impose on yourself. Breaking some of these rules will allow you to seek new experiences to bring you more tremendous success.
Consider the actual risk of a situation. It’s essential to know the substantial dangers instead of what you feel (or fear) may occur. Knowing the difference can enable you to overcome your limitations. Rationalization helps keep us stuck. When you weigh the balances in decision-making, you’ll feel better and stifle anything, which is unwarranted.
Challenge yourself to step outside your comfort level. We are often our own worst enemy regarding boundaries and limitations. There are times when you’ll have to push yourself to get where you want to be. In these instances, you must meet the challenge to leave your comfort zone. When you find an accountability partner to help you move beyond safe zones, you’ll feel more adept at taking on challenges.
A mentor is someone who won’t let you sleep in, or someone who motivates you outdoors, with technology, or building your successful brand. The importance of someone to help you is for you to find the courage to get up and get to it. Once you have your wings, you don’t need someone to remind you.
When stepping outside your comfort zone brings you success, you’ll find the benefits are well worth the effort.
“Whenever you feel uncomfortable, instead of retreating back into your old comfort zone, pat yourself on the back and say, “I must be growing,” and continue moving forward.” — T. Harv Eker
Whenever you try something for the first time, you’re bound to be a little uncomfortable. We’re all conditioned to fight change and stay in our comfort zones, and you may have to remind yourself that only you can push yourself to step outside the box.
Be patient, be aware of your self-imposed limitations, and try things in small steps at a time. This way, your comfort zone will expand at a gradual, comfortable pace, and your fears and anxieties will subside as you gain positive experiences.
Keep your dreams in sight. Expanding your comfort zone may be all it takes to achieve your goals and live the life you desire one day at a time.
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Previously Published on medium
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