How to Break Free of Your Comfort Zone
A comfort zone is a self-imposed boundary where you will refuse to push beyond. Even the idea of having to push past your comfort zone will fill a person with nervousness and anxiety.
If you have felt that you’re not at all alone.
Getting out of your comfort zone can be scary, overwhelming, and even frustrating. While it can be all of these things stepping out is surely worth it.
I am a firm believer that remaining in your comfort zone will stunt your growth. This is why I am so passionate about helping women like you and the rest of my clients move beyond where it’s safe, familiar, and comfortable, and into their growth zone.
Many people struggle with understanding how to break free of their comfort zone....but don’t worry here is a strategy you can begin to use today!
Become Aware of What’s Outside of Your Comfort Zone
Take time to check in with yourself and reflect on the things that you believe are worth doing but, are afraid of doing because of fear, anxiety, failure, etc.
Draw a circle and write those things down outside the circle. This process will not only allow you to clearly identify your discomforts but, your comforts. Write identified comforts inside the circle. You can use the model I have in your workbook as an example. This is a great tool to use because it allows you to confront where you are and where you desire to be
Get Information
I can’t stress this enough but information is power. The more informed you are powerful you will feel because you often can make intentional and informed decisions.
Anxiety typically comes from a fear of the unknown. If you’re anything like me you’re likely imagining the worst-case scenario of what could happen and instantly you feel unsafe, anxious, and scared.
To break through your comfort zone, you need to first educate yourself. The focus is to determine what skill and activity you’re pursuing and get information on it. You can begin by reading more or even talking to people who have blazed the trail before you. Not only will this arm you with information it will show you that it’s possible for you.
Become Clear About What You Are Aiming to Overcome
After you list out what’s in your comfort zone and what’s outside of it reflect on where you feel fear. Be very specific. Are you afraid of failing? What does that look like what does that mean? Usually, when I get to this point I think of the worst-case scenario and then walk myself through how I would handle it and you know what it’s never how bad I envisioned it because I always recover.
Create a Plan
You start with the easiest thing to do. Then you create a plan to get to each level. Remember you don’t eat an elephant all in one bite, you eat it one small bite at a time. In this plan, you need to create small steps. These are mini-goals that put you one step close to pushing past your comfort zone. Don’t try to jump outside your comfort zone. You will likely become overwhelmed and jump right back in.
Take small steps toward the fear you are trying to overcome. If you want to do lives on Facebook, start by doing pre-recorded lessons or practice presenting in front of your children!
Identify Challenges
It’s important to identify the key challenges you’re going to face and what you’ll do to overcome them. Knowing these, in fact, will help you prepare and avoid these. To leave your comfort zone, to recognize challenges will exist, and to identify the key challenges you’re going to face and what you’ll do to overcome them.
See Failure as a Teacher
Many times we try to run away and hide from failure but I always say that failure is one of our greatest teachers. You learn the most when you have those setbacks and if you’re too busy running from it, you’ll never have the opportunity to really grow in the way in which you should. Begin to treat failure as a teacher. What did you learn from the experience? How can you take that lesson to your next adventure to increase your chance of success? Many highly successful people failed plenty of times before they succeeded. Think of Thomas Edison, for example. He failed hundreds of times making the lightbulb but because he persevered, we have lights!
Identify Your Propellers!
While we have things that will challenge and make the process of stepping out of our comfort zone difficult we also have things that will help us to succeed. So do you need an accountability partner? Do you need a coach? Do you need a planner? What do you need to put in place that will propel you in the direction of your dreams!
Get Comfortable with Discomfort
The only way out of your comfort zone is to make a decision that it is no longer where you would like to reside. Make it a goal to avoid running away from discomfort. In fact, I challenge you to commit to small forms of discomfort once per day to become more comfortable with it. For example, if you are shy practice complimenting a stranger. If you want to post more online write out your first post and share it today! If you practice often enough, you will begin to embrace being uncomfortable which is an amazing tool on the journey of moving beyond your comfort zone!
Hang out with Risk Takers
Research says you are the average of the top by people you spend the most amount of time with. So if you spend time with people who make your comfort zone normal you too will normalize remaining in your comfort zone and lack the motivation to move beyond it. Shift your circle and your shift your perspective! Start hanging out with people that are willing to take risks that lead by example and also push you to step beyond your comfort zone. There’s literally no substitute for this step!
Be Honest with Yourself When You Are Trying to Make Excuses
Creatures of habit therefore when we try to do something that’s not habitual that’s not part of our typical routine you’ll find yourself running into those mental blocks those limiting beliefs and those excuses. If you’re prepared for it you can move beyond them. So identify what excuses you’re trying to make. Why you’re trying to make those excuses. And how you can make sure that those excuses don’t stop you. So instead of saying I will wait for the right time, you need to say what it is you truly feel- “I am feeling fear around making this choice”.
When we say what it is that we're truly feeling it forces us to confront what it is we’re feeling and shift beyond that. You will be in a better place to confront what is truly bothering you and increase your chance of moving forward.
Identify How Stepping Out Will Benefit You
The Truth is you may feel motivated in the beginning to step out of your comfort zone because that’s what people tell you that you need to do to get to where you want to be. But if you don’t have a strong reason behind why you’re doing it and you don’t have a strong drive and you’ll notice but that mom meant him and that motivation will eventually fade. So what I always recommend, it take some time to visualize what exists beyond your comfort zone what’s included in your growth zone and why you’re inspired to get there. When you really utilize visualization to your power and manage to have a strong why behind it you’re going to notice that that motivation and the momentum is going to keep renewing naturally. Also continuing to keep these potential benefits in mind as motivations to push through fear.
Forgive Yourself and Give yourself Grace
Stepping out of your comfort zone is something that most people will talk about, but most people won’t commit to. So on your journey of taking this step be patient with yourself show yourself, grace. You may have moments where you do really well and then you have a moment will you have a setback that that’s OK pick up dust off and start again. Learn to laugh at yourself when you make mistakes. Risk-taking will inevitably involve failure and setbacks. Be grateful for the lessons, embrace rolling with the punches, and whatever you do keep pressing forward. Remember that this is a lifelong process because with each uplevel you have the more you find your body wanting to fall back into your comfort zone. The good news is now you know what to do when that feeling arises
While this may seem like a lot of steps understand that getting beyond your comfort zone is going to require work. It will require you to be consistent it will require you to become committed but the outcome is so worth it. So don’t overwhelm yourself and try to jump out of your comfort zone quickly. I don’t overwhelm yourself and say that seems like too much and I’m just going to give up take it one step at a time knowing that each day you commit to taking one step in the right direction you’re putting yourself in a position to step into the boundless version of who you’re really called to be.
And I will leave you with this: If you leave your growth to Randomness you will always live in the land of mediocrity.
