Your comfort zone can prevent you from reaching success in your life. In this article, we’ll look at what your comfort zone is, why you want to change it, and ways you can move from your comfort zone to the growth zone.
How To Move From Your Comfort Zone To Your Growth Zone
This article is developed in partnership with BetterHelp.
We all hope for things to get better in our lives. But many of us can’t quite get the motivation or courage to make a change. In this article, we’ll explain why this is, and share ideas of how you can shift from settling for little to striving for more. It’s all about moving from your comfort zone to your growth zone.
What Is Your Comfort Zone?
Imagine working a job that you don’t really like, and wishing you could quit in order to pursue a career in another field. The thought of leaping into the unknown is so frightening, however, that you stay in that unpleasant job day after day. This is what it looks like to operate inside your comfort zone.
When you’re in your comfort zone, you avoid experiences that are unfamiliar to you and choose to stay doing what feels comfortable. Staying in your comfort zone gives you a sense of control. The downside to this behavior is that you miss out on the opportunities life has to offer you.
What Is Your Growth Zone?
You’d never hear a professional athlete say, “I’m happy with the results I’m getting, so I won’t try to push myself any harder”. This is because striving for the best is what they do for a living. Professional athletes operate within the growth zone.
When you’re in the growth zone, you move through the discomfort of leaving what’s familiar to you in the pursuit of a better life. This opens up all kinds of new experiences and makes it possible for you to reach new heights of success.
The Benefits of Leaving Your Comfort Zone
Moving from your comfort zone into your growth zone isn’t easy, and at times can feel scary. Change is difficult for any human being. But there are many benefits that come with leaving your comfort zone.
Development of a Growth Mindset
According to Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, there are two kinds of mindsets that people can go about their lives with. These are known as the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. When people live with a fixed mindset, they view themselves as only capable of so much. They also view failure as something to be avoided at all costs.
People with a growth mindset understand that they’re capable of achieving things that are beyond their current circumstances. These people view failure as an opportunity for learning.
Increased Resilience
When you leave your comfort zone, you’re journeying into unknown territory. With this comes unexpected difficulties you’ll learn to overcome, increasing your ability to adapt to change. You’ll gradually become more resilient to stress and discomfort, which will increase your overall mental well-being.
More Opportunities
If you don’t try something, you might miss out on what could have been a wonderful outcome. Limiting ourselves to what is familiar and comfortable makes us miss out on the opportunities that life gives us, including the opportunity to grow as a person.
Increased Self-Confidence
When you have the courage to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new, you’ll get to see a new side of yourself – one that’s brave, strong, and smart. That will result in a significant shift in your overall view of who you are and what you’re capable of. You’ll walk through life with more confidence to try new things.
Self-Actualization
Self-actualization means becoming the best version of ourselves – the best we can be. Effective online therapy is one way to work towards self-actualization. Another way you can discover your true self and your highest potential is by pushing yourself to leave your comfort zone and start taking risks.
How To Get Out of Your Comfort Zone and Into Your Growth Zone
“Do one thing every day that scares you.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt’s words sum it up very well. If you want to start moving from your comfort zone into your growth zone, it’s a matter of taking things a little at a time. It’s okay to take small, thought-out steps. Leaving your comfort zone doesn’t mean throwing all caution to the wind. Here are some ideas for how to start getting more comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Reframe What Fear Means To You
Did you know that the feeling of fear is almost exactly the same on a physiological level as the feeling of excitement? This opens up a valuable opportunity to reframe the fear you feel when you’re leaving your comfort zone. If you call those butterflies in your stomach excitement rather than fear, you’ll be far more able to take risks and enter the realm of the unknown.
Switch Things Up in Your Day-To-Day Routine
Changing up the routines we have in place can help us to learn that change can be fun. To start, just try doing one thing every day that’s different from how you normally do it. You could take a different route to work, read a book instead of watching TV or even wear your hair in a different way.
Learn Something New
If you’ve been living for who knows how long in your comfort zone, it’s likely that you haven’t been pushing yourself to take on new skills. Gaining a new skill set can be very beneficial in getting you that raise at work, fueling your creative passion, or increasing the enjoyment you get out of life.
Eat Differently
To venture outside your comfort zone, it doesn’t have to be a matter of quitting all carbs and sugar cold turkey. Just the act of choosing something different on the menu when you’re eating out can start to shift your eating habits. Then you can try adding fruits and vegetables to your normal meals. Gradual changes add up.
Become Friends with Failure
“I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” ― Michael Jordan
Ask any highly successful person how they got to where they are in life, and they’ll likely give you a list of failures they experienced along the way. Successful people know that failing is not something to be avoided – in fact, learning from our failures is often a stepping stone on the road toward finally getting where you want to be.
Takeaway
Staying in your comfort zone may feel safe, but it puts you in danger of missing out on valuable life experiences. It takes courage to start challenging yourself, but by slowly adjusting your habits and thinking, you can reach your growth zone, where exciting opportunities may await you.
