The Comfort Zone

Photo: Business 2 Community

"Everything you want is on the other side of fear." - Jack Canfield

Somehow you've found that life has just become a routine. Nothing new happens anymore, and the feeling of things being unexpected or unknown has vanished. A life without challenge, without fear-the same thing every day. Some people are content in this situation, but on the other hand, some are not, and there's one reason why: the safety of comfort zone holds back growth and happiness. 

All personal development comes from outside your comfort zone. In times of discomfort, those experiences are the ones that push growth through challenges. As a kid, we all struggled with making friends at one point in time, but it only became easier as we tried and tried again.When we failed, we learned from our mistakes and planned to do better next time, and when we succeeded, we witnessed our failures turning into growth. Soon we come to the realization that as people we either succeed and grow, or we fail and grow, but that anything's better than nothing at all.

Taking the first step is always the hardest step of them all, no matter how small it may be. Putting yourself out in the world to become vulnerable is always going to be scary, it just depends on how you take it. There is no golden rule to stepping out of known boundaries, there are just many small tweaks that could make life more unpredictable. Doing everyday things differently invites change to happen, whether it be from taking a new route to work or greeting people off the street. Trusting yourself in making snap decisions is the counter to thinking too much, sometimes speeding up a little kickstarts the movement. And another example is doing things in small steps. It takes a lot of strength to put yourself out there, so don't feel as if the deep end is the first place to jump to when change is wanted. Take your time, recognize your fears and flaws, and battle them one by one. 

Photo: Business 2 Community

As cliche as it sounds, the most successful people have failed the most out of all of us. The difference that stands is that they did not let their comfort zone define who they wanted to be. They recognized that some parts of their happiness and success lie beyond their comfort zone, and that they would rather face it than live a life of dreams. We could all learn from these types of people and follow their ways. If not, then we let our comfort zone take the wheel, restricting us from all other paths that could open up in life. 

by Lucas W.

Works Cited:

Forbes Coaches Council. "Overcoming Fear: 10 Ways To Step Outside Your Comfort Zone." 26 April 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/04/26/overcoming-fear-10-ways-to-step-outside-your-comfort-zone/#65681919882d

Henry, Alan. "The Science of Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone (and Why You Should.)" 3 July 2013. https://lifehacker.com/the-science-of-breaking-out-of-your-comfort-zone-and-w-656426705

Pak, Elliot. "7 Reasons to Abandon Your Comfort Zone and Why You'll Never Regret It." https://tinybuddha.com/blog/7-reasons-abandon-comfort-zone-why-you-wont-regret-it/