I heard this question this morning and for some reason the words rumbled with me for a while. Where in my life was in in my comfort zone?
I’m not sure. I seem to be kicking it up all over the shop at the moment and yet the stretch feels good.?
What is a comfort zone?
It’s exactly as described; comfortable, we know it, feels like old slippers. It’s probably warm, soft and fits us well. It’s also what we know as routine. It has little anxiety or stress. We’re well within our limits and totally in control. Might feel a little bit like driving on autopilot.
What’s wrong with that?
The answer is nothing. We should be in our comfort zone or be comfortable in our lives, certainly without stress or anxiety…. however, if we stay there permanently then nothing changes. We don’t challenge ourselves. We don’t stretch. We don’t grow. Magic stuff doesn’t happen in our comfort zone.
Moving out of your comfort zone requires you to ahmmm get uncomfortable. There is no easy way out of this. Change, up-leveling, moving to something different, trying something new or a new approach, will require you to learn some new skills or something about yourself in order to ‘go there’. It can feel uncomfortable at first and we can be riddled with doubt, insecurity, hair-pulling, soul search and left looking for that rug that once existed under our feet.
Change and challenge can take any form; it may be a personal challenge to eat healthy or lose weight. It may be learning new ways to improve relationships. It might be trying a new skill. It might be standing under the spotlight or taking our stage. It might be meeting new people. The world has so many opportunities for us.
Does comfort exist outside our comfort zone?
The answer is yes and you should find your new comfort there! In fact, when you are stretching and growing outside of your comfort zone, it should feel both peaceful and exciting, okay, maybe those feelings on top of a little scary and challenging.
If at some level it’s not peaceful then perhaps it’s not growth that we are ready for. No matter how icky parts of our growth process feel, we should have a sense of peace about it knowing that it is good for us or simply, part of the process in up-leveling and growth. The peaceful feeling is coming from your gut, your intuition telling you that you are on the right path.
It should of course be exciting. A little rush of adrenalin as we see things moving in the direction we want and our results taking shape. Excitement about where we are going to achieve. Excitement about the raw results and getting down and dirty in the process to get there, the work ahead.
It always depends on what way you look at life really, but if you keep your focus on that deep feeling inside; peace and excitement – that is where you can find your comfort outside your comfort zone. This is where the stretch feels good.
