There are all sorts of ideas about comfort zones and venturing beyond their bounds. Understanding the role of discomfort and how to leverage it opens up new worlds. It shows definitively that life begins at the end of your comfort zone!
The mechanics of your comfort zone
“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the face of something that scares you, it’s so easy to choose avoidance. The cruel fact is that this strengthens and reinforces the fear and imposes further long-term restrictions.
Facing a fear is the hard choice and will take courage. But if you can deal with the discomfort, this path brings confidence and long-term freedom. This is worth it every time!
I wrote more in-depth about this process in a recent post that you can read here.
Life at the edge
Leaving your comfort zone is not a one-and-done type of thing. It’s not something you schedule every Tuesday at 6pm. It’s not even something that you can always anticipate.
Leaving your comfort zone is most helpful when it’s habitual and spread across all facets of life. When you’re in the habit of leaning into the things that make you just a bit uneasy, you’ll see opportunities to do so and jump at them.
This is such a powerful place to be because you’ll be giving yourself so many chances for growth. So many chances to conquer something that has kept you boxed in. So many chances to learn and so many gardens in which to cultivate newfound confidence.
I’m not here trying to tell you that every activity you do should involve facing fears. That’d be exhausting and annoying. But at the same time, if nearly every action you do is an avoidance of fear, the results are equally and perhaps even more exhausting.
As this post from A Lust for Life says, operate at the edge of your comfort zone. Make a habit out of venturing outside of what’s comfortable. You’ll thank yourself for it.
The motivation to leap
How then might you psych yourself up to take the courageous steps outside your comfort zone? By realizing that you stand to gain more from doing so as compared to not.
If I may go back to the concept I mentioned earlier: avoidance only has short-term “benefits.” Facing fears brings freedom after a brief period of discomfort. Upon realizing that the fleeting discomfort is a miniscule price to pay, the gates will open for you and you’ll be driven to take on the things that you used to shy away from.
Motivation is weird. The people who are most driven to change are those that are facing extreme pain or frustration. If your comfort zone is clearly keeping you boxed in, you’ll likely muster up the strength to make some changes.
But if you’re just a little frustrated or if the restrive boundaries created by your fears aren’t intolerable, your motivation likely won’t surpass the action-provoking threshold.
Think about that, and then think about the areas where you may be held back ever so slightly. Minor steps can go a long way in these areas. Whether it’s motivation to face fears or to change circumstances, it only bubbles to the surface when you realize that you have more to gain by changing than by staying. Phrased the other way, motivation comes by realizing the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.
Change and motivation require sparks. Think about where you could benefit from change, and be the catalyst for your own comfort zone expansion. Where your comfort zone ends, life and its many wonders begin!
Thank you so much for reading! Please share with others who may benefit! 🙂
