A comfort zone is a low-stress situation or place where you feel at ease or safe. Staying within your comfort zone is appealing because it avoids risk. The downside of being in your comfort zone is that we can get too “safe” and not grow as a person and isolate from people to the point it stops us from doing life. Here are some ways to make sure you don’t get too comfortable.
1. Examine Your Daily Routine:
Take a look at the types of day-to-day activities you are engaged with. See if there are ways to do them differently than you’ve been doing them. This can give you a renewed sense of value in those activities. You may also learn something in the process.
2. Examine Your Career
What are you currently doing in your career? Is it something you still want to do, or do you daydream about doing something completely different? If you are constantly thinking about how great your life would be if you were doing something different, it may be time to explore that. If so, be proactive and start learning as much as you can about the new path. Talk to people that are involved with it and even offer to volunteer to get some experience.
3. Learn, Learn, Learn:
When people get too comfortable at anything, this is usually the time that something will happen to disrupt that comfort zone. Therefore, try never to stay comfortable. This will require you to stay on top of your game and continue to learn. Learning should never be looked at as something you stop after school is over. Too many people make this mistake and find their skills become obsolete over time.
4. Anticipate & Accept Change:
The one thing that you can depend on in life is change. It will happen all throughout your life. Some changes will be great while others will be difficult to accept. People that you know will move away, and others will die. You will be faced with life decisions that overwhelm you. When you are more accepting of changes and try to account for them, you can prepare yourself better when they happen. You can never be truly prepared, but any preparation can lighten their severity.
5. Try Not to Change Too Much Too Fast:
While it is good to accept change, if you try to take on too many changes, you will find it difficult to manage them. There will be situations where this can’t be helped. But, if you have control of several of the changes, take them slowly. Get used to small changes and then take on others once that happens. Allow yourself to get used to one change at a time.
6. Help Others Manage Change:
Even though change is something you can depend on; this doesn’t make it easy for many people to handle. If you make yourself more willing to accept changes, you will be able to help others do the same. For instance, if your company is relocating to a new area, help those who may struggle with this. Try to get them to see the benefits of the change, rather than letting them focus solely on the negative aspects. Not everyone will be receptive, but if you help even a few people, you have done something good. Be sensitive to the fact that everyone deals with change in their own way.
When will you get out of your comfort zone?
