Why You Need to Step Outside your Comfort Zone
It's time for your annual review, and you are overdue for a raise. You need to talk to your boss about it, but just the idea of bringing up your salary to your boss, or even worse, checking out other companies to see if they'll give you a better deal, fills you with dread.
We all have a comfort zone we like to be in. Even the craziest people who seem to have no boundaries, probably do have a bubble they'd rather stay in. The difference of course, is that these people are adept at pushing that boundary.
Learning to step out of your boundary is terrifying, but also beneficial. You'll never get that big raise if you don't ask for it. You'll never become an authority in your field if you don't write that book or give that keynote speech. You'll never have exciting tales of adventure to regale your grandchildren with, if you never go on any adventures.
Scientists have been interested in our comfort zones since as early as 1908. A study conducted then found that you won't be as creative if you're not a little bit stressed. (Just a little bit. If you get too stressed, your creativity drops significantly.)
Too much stress is bad for us, but a little bit of stress can help us succeed at our goals. If you're ready to step out of your comfort zone, here are a couple of tips to get you started:
Take failure like a scientist
When a study goes horribly wrong, scientists don't always view it as a disaster. Instead, they look at the data and see it as its own unique information. If you fail at something, looking at it objectively can help you do better in the future.
If your boss laughed at your request for better pay, you can look at it objectively and figure out why. If you're overqualified, perhaps the best choice is to make a bigger change and move to a different company.
If you're struggling with weight and signing up for a gym membership didn't help, perhaps it's time for a trip to the doctor to make sure it isn't just holiday pounds causing the problems.
By taking failure objectively, you'll not only be less stressed when it happens, you may gain from it.
Embrace discomfort
When you step out of your comfort zone, you're going to be—well—uncomfortable. Learning to accept that is part of stepping out of your comfort zone. If you struggle with this, just adding a few seconds to how much discomfort you are willing to take can help build you up.
Take baby steps
If you're afraid of heights, you don't get over it by going skydiving. Instead, you might try going one step higher on a ladder than you're normally comfortable with, or just one step closer to the railing on a bridge. If you try to push yourself farther than that, odds are you will panic and run for the hills.
Stepping out of your comfort zone is difficult, and yes sometimes uncomfortable, but it can benefit you greatly if you decide to do so. The next time adventure is just around the corner, don't run from it. Instead, step out of your comfort zone and enjoy what the world has to offer.
Learn more by clicking on the links below:
Are you too stressed to be productive?
Ten ways to step outside your comfort zone