Stepping out of your comfort zone

Let’s face it in life, there will always be things that we fear. Some of us are scared of the obvious “biggies” such as heights, snakes, flames or flights. Many of us, though, develop concerns about things that shouldn’t impede us, but they sometimes do.

Are you afraid of rejection? Risk Taking? Failure? Successful?

All of us strive to build “comfort zones” around us: barriers between what makes us feel relaxed and awkward.

Comfort zones are not always bad

They can prevent us from doing anything stupid or reckless sometimes. However most frequently, our comfort zones are based on a conviction that may or may not be valid. If in the past you have encountered an especially painful rejection, you could build a comfort zone that will prevent you from sticking your neck out there and being rejected again.

The comfort zone itself in this case, is not the problem. The problem is the underlying conviction that you will be rejected again.

Just because in the past you’ve been rejected does not mean that in the future you will be rejected again. The unique comfort zone can lead you to behave in ways that are detrimental to your own life success.

You’re going to fear meeting new individuals, getting involved in relationships, or even applying for new jobs. Deep inside, you are going to expect part of you to be rejected again, and you are going to do everything you can to minimise the risk of that happening. Pain is not fun to feel, and how our minds stop it at all costs is incredible!

You may not even be conscious of any of your comfort zones. Take a look at your life right now as it is. Do you make as much money as you would like? Are you satisfied with the job?

Will you enjoy meeting and getting to know new people? Are you capable of setting and achieving new targets for yourself? If you responded yes to those questions, your comfort zones are probably not hindering you in any way.

You may have some problems to work through if you replied no to all of these questions.

Here is an easy way to find out if you are held back by your fears: make a list of the worst things you can imagine happening. What are the deepest fears you have? What things don’t you like in your life? Oh, and why?

Ask yourself why it is, if you don’t like meeting new people. What is the worst thing about meeting someone new that you can imagine happening? Be frank with yourself. You do not have to show anyone this list.

Once you know what you are truly afraid of, ask yourself what the consequences would be if your worst fear were to be realized. And could you live with those consequences? Using the rejection example again, what would be the consequences of being rejected again? Would you be able to live with that? I think you’ll be surprised at how small most of the consequences are, and how easily we could live with them if we had to.

Fear has a way of making itself much bigger in our minds than it is in reality! We work ourselves into a sweat, terrified of the “what ifs” — when in fact, the outcome would be no big deal really. As with most other things, we’d simply pick ourselves up and continue on our way.

Once you know what your fears are, and you understand and accept the consequences, immediately do the thing you fear most. Yes, that’s right, I’m encouraging you to step out of your comfort zones! Refuse to let fear control you.

Tell your anxiety, “Thank you for trying to protect me, but anyway I’m going to do it.” And then do it. Do it again then. And that again. You Would feel nervous the first few times you venture out of your comfort zone. Expect and accept that. The fear won’t disappear overnight. But after your mind realises that the anxiety is groundless, it will go away.

Now just because you are overcoming your fears and widening your comfort zone doesn’t imply that you should also become reckless. Between blindly jumping into the unknown and taking a calculated risk, there is a major difference.

Take a few minutes to think about the action you intend to take before proceeding, weigh the ramifications, and ask if you’re ready to embrace them. Go for it if you are. If you’re not, that’s great!

Don’t feel like you need to force yourself past what you would be prepared to consider. For some time, you can place the problem on the back burner and rethink it later.

The point is to avoid letting your choices be made by fear, and begin making them yourself. It will take some time to get used to this new way of thinking, but you’ll start challenging your fear naturally before long and stop letting it control you.

When that happens, the standards of achievement and satisfaction you will achieve are not told!

The zone of comfort: no anxiety or confusion permitted

I was motivated by the Convid19 panademic to write this blog about taking a little leap and learning new stuff. This needs that you get out of your zone of comfort. It applies to anxiety levels, the most scientific definition of what a comfort zone is. Any type of action that keeps you at a consistently low level of anxiety is your comfort zone You are used to everyday tasks that would not make you feel nervous and awkward, because they are part of your comfort zone. Although individuals frequently refer to ‘getting out of your comfort zone’ in terms of doing new stuff, it is possible to count something that increases your anxiety levels as being beyond that zone.

While anxiety is not something we are likely to be searching for, it can be unexpectedly helpful to have a little bit. To drive us to get our work done, or to boost our results, we sometimes need just a touch of anxiety. A scientific study found that output improved as anxiety levels grew when a task was very easy. However, elevated anxiety only improved to a certain extent when a task was more challenging, after which the combination of a difficult task and high anxiety caused performance to drop.

Uncomfortable uncertainty levels

The uncomfortable levels of uncertainty are responsible for much of the discomfort that comes from leaving your comfort zone. Uncertainty will make us respond to negative experiences more strongly. Even though we may come to like them over time, we are still more likely to react negatively to new stuff. Our comfort zones can effectively be made smaller by volatile social, political or economic circumstances. The more scared we are the smaller our comfort zone becomes and the harder it is to break out. Familiarity is relaxing and fun, so it’s no wonder we get our guard up with new stuff. It takes energy to try new stuff, so we are more likely to rely on old habits when we feel tired than to take a new chance.

5 reasons why moving out of your comfort zone is good

In the learning zone, you want to find the sweet spot and stop going so far out of your comfort zone that you enter panic mode. Some of the advantages of leaving the comfort zone are seen here.

1. It will help you to grow

When combined with the feeling of success, some anxiety and self-doubt can lead to personal development. This is why outdoor activities such as rock climbing or skydiving can be so exciting: they cause fear and discomfort, but when done, they give us a huge sense of achievement and raise our confidence levels.

2. Your comfort zone will expand

If your comfort zone is small, much of the time you will either be nervous or miss out on much of the fun that life has to bring. You’ll increase the amount of items you’re happy with by moving out of your comfort zone more often. As familiarity makes us more likely to enjoy something, you will also be able to enjoy more things in life, even if it turned us off at first.

3. Learning opportunities will increase

Doing new stuff motivates us and encourages us to learn
Novelty helps to boost the brain’s dopamine levels, which is part of the reward hub’ of the brain. The role of Dopamine focuses on encouraging us to go searching for rewards and that urge increases novelty. It has also been shown that novelty enhances memory and increases learning possibilities by making our brains more malleable.

4. It will improve your efficiency

You are not effective if you are too relaxed. We are looking for the middle ground where you are concerned, but where certain levels of anxiety are still manageable. You have effectively increased your comfort zone until you have acclimatised to the new level of anxiety.

5. It will be easier to harness creativity

We are motivated by discovering new experiences, mastering new talents, and opening the door to new ideas. In a way that nothing else does it educates us. Trying new things will lead us to focus on our old theories and where they conflict with our new experience, encourage us to learn more and question confirmation bias, our propensity to pursue only facts that we already agree with. Even in the short term, brainstorming, seeing old issues in a different light, and overcoming the obstacles we face with new energies can be improved by a positively unpleasant experience. I believe this definition fits my experience at the concert. This has given me a great deal of energy!

6 ways to leave your comfort zone

1. Doing daily stuff differently

To work, take a different path. Try a new restaurant without first reading the feedback. Go for a week or a month with a vegetarian. If the change you make is major or tiny, make a change on a day-to-day basis in the way you do stuff. Look for the viewpoint that comes, even if it is negative, from any transition. If things do not turn out the way you expected, do not be put off.

2. Taking time to take decisions

Often if you make fast decisions, slowing down is what it takes to make you uncomfortable. This is particularly true if fast thinking in your work or personal life is respected. Slow down, watch what’s happening, take the time to analyse what you see, and then step in. Often it will drive you out of your comfort zone just by defending your right to make an informed decision.

3. Trusting in yourself and making fast choices

Often making a snap decision is in order, just to get stuff going, if you are more comfortable considering all of the potential choices many times. Doing so will help you kickstart your personal ventures and teach your judgement to trust you. It will also show you that fast decisions as well as slow ones have fallout.

4. Beginning with small steps

Breaking out of your comfort zone takes a lot of bravery. If you go in with both feet, you get the same advantages as if you start slow, so do not be afraid to start slow. Identify your fears, and then, step by step, face them. It was not actually a fear of classical music; it was rather something to which I did not understand or feel connected. I took a step towards getting to know it and broadening my outlook.

5. Master in a new skill or language

There are many advantages to learning a foreign language, many of which apply to learning every new ability. Connect with individuals who inspire you or volunteer with an agency that does an outstanding job.

6. Travelling to new places

If you have been seeing the world from your front door all your life, you are missing out. Perhaps one of the best ways to expand your experiences is to explore new and interesting locations, and it does not have to be costly or hard to do.

What would you do to get out of your comfort zone?

Anyway, now I’d like to share the different challenges I’ve taken on this course over the past year. I was unable to achieve all the goals listed below but I witnessed a consistent growth within me that generated enormous levels of confidence from within.

Vocabulary Boosting Challenges

Within a month, add 150 words to your vocabulary.

Within a month, add 200 words to your vocabulary.

Within a month, add 300 words to your vocabulary.

In a month, add 300 words to your vocabulary with another person in tandem.

That means 10 words a day, 10 words per day,

Challenges of Push-ups

50 push-ups for two weeks a day.

100 push-ups for twenty days a day.

For a month, 100 push-ups a day.

150 push-ups for two weeks a day.

If you’re a beginner, start with 10 push-ups a day.

Challenges for Eating Habits

For a month, no fried food.

No food from the canteen for a month. No cold/aerated beverages for a month.

Every morning, “I will only consume homemade foods today.” manifest.

Challenges in Social life

For a month, say thanks to at least three people a day.

Every day, you call three people and make them happy for a month.

To some celebrity or renowned personality who influenced me in one way or another, a letter a day for a month.

Challenges for writing

On every topic/topic for two weeks, write ten ideas a day.

On any topic/topic for a month, write ten ideas a day.

For a month, write an average single post on your blog every day.

Creating the next day’s regular task ( in 300 words)

Write at least 2,000 words a day for a month.

Start with 500 words per day then slowly increase.

Challenges to Savings

Save Rs.100 a day by cutting expenses for a month.

Save Rs.150 a day by cutting expenses for a month.

Take this challenge based on the level of income and expenditures. You can start the process by saving only Rs 10.

Challenges for Reading

For a month, read 30 pages of a book every day.

For a month, read 50 pages of a book every day.

Read 5 editorials in the newspaper and 50 book pages a day for a month.

Challenges for better Living

For a month, no gossip.

No quarrels and conflicts in a month

Wake up for the month by 6:30 am.

Wake up for the month by 5:00 am.

For a month, no social media.

For a month, fifteen minutes of deep breathing meditation per day.