How comfortable are you? What zone are you in? Defined as a “level at which one functions with ease and familiarity,” are you in the comfort zone?
Who doesn’t enjoy the comfort zone, that environmental and psychological state where we feel calm, relaxed and at ease? The surroundings are familiar. You’re in control, and surprises are kept to a minimum. All forms of risk are held at arm’s length. It feels good in this space. You know what to expect, and performance achieved steadily and reliably feels good. It’s a safe place to be. A comfort zone is a safe harbor that offers protection from the storms that happen in life.
However, too much of a good thing can create boredom, stifle personal growth and leave one with an unfulfilled feeling with regard to their career. Too often, we get comfortable where we are and resist the invitation to go beyond our comfort zone. Yet studies have shown that incredible growth happens when we go outside our comfort zone. Bottom line: being stuck in your comfort zone can inhibit you from reaching your full potential.
While the invitation to move beyond your comfort zone is tempting, the pull to stay put is strong. It’s desirable and easy to stay in a haven that is already familiar territory.
Moving beyond areas of comfort exposes you to many unfamiliar and uncomfortable scenarios – situations that many would prefer to avoid. Scenarios such as:
Fear of Uncertainty
In his book Who Moved My Cheese, bestselling author Dr. Spencer Johnson addresses the need to deal with change and uncertainty. Johnson uses the image of cheese to communicate that there are areas of life we do not want to let go of, even though a bigger and better block of cheese may be just around the corner. We hold on tight to what we know because of the fear of uncertainty.
Fear of Failure or Embarrassment
The fear of failure or embarrassment is a worry or concern about falling flat on your face for the entire world to see. It’s a fear of looking foolish or unprepared or doing something incorrect or improper. The fear of public speaking may fall into this category, where some people would rather face death than speak in public.
Consider what could happen if you moved beyond your fears. Stated differently, what could you do with your life if you weren’t afraid?
Designers and sales designers go through several phases in their careers. Stage one is the inexperienced stage, where a designer is fresh out of school or changing positions. New skills are learned and applied.
In the next phase, confidence is gaining momentum, the experience is energizing, and increased productivity is apparent.
This next phase is the comfort zone stage, where things begin leveling off and slowing down. The comfort zone is where an environment of familiarity and routine resides. This phase is where everything makes sense. It’s also the stage where complacency can start. It’s where the momentum of earlier progress is stalled, and further progress is threatened.
All of us reach a comfort zone at some point in our careers. The comfort zone is not the problem. The problem is not seeing or sensing how comfortable you’ve become in this stage and how it hampers your ability to go beyond comfort and achieve substantial growth.
My granddaughter recently completed 7th grade, the middle year of middle school. I recall how nervous she was about leaving the comforts of elementary school to go to the much larger and intimidating 6th grade. This transition required her to move from a position of comfort to discomfort. While not always easy and navigating some hiccups along the way, I also witnessed a dramatic event towards the end of her 7th-grade year. She shepherded future students around the building who would attend the school the next year. Tapping into her experience, she provided tips she learned that helped to alleviate these new students’ fears and uncertainties.
She transitioned from a period of discomfort to a newfound comfort zone and, in the process, experienced growth. While she wasn’t ready for prime time initially, my granddaughter gradually expanded from what she knew to what she needed to know, and the journey moved her into a new comfort zone.
Consider this quote from Abraham Maslow, the psychologist and creator of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. “One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.”
There are many benefits of going beyond your comfort zone, of stepping out of your safe space. While it may seem overwhelming, intimidating and challenging, doing so can reap significant rewards for personal and professional growth. Here are some of the benefits.
Increased Self Confidence: Self confidence grows with each step you take out of your comfort space and when you successfully navigate unfamiliar territory. This newfound confidence easily extends to other areas of your life, enabling you to take on new opportunities and achieve additional success.
Heightened Creativity: A break from a routine exposes you to new possibilities, ideas and perspectives that stimulate creativity. Stepping out from the ordinary challenges you to be spontaneous and arrive at new ideas to be applied to whatever you work on.
Building Resilience: Confronting discomfort and adversity builds up resilience over time. A more robust mindset is developed as you learn to adapt and persevere from the experience. Over time you become more adept at handling setbacks and overcome challenges more easily.
A More Fulfilled Life: Life becomes more interesting when you step out of your comfort zone. You are introduced to new experiences and opportunities and begin embracing them. You see a new opportunity as an adventure rather than a risk or obstacle. Exploring the unknown adds depth, excitement and a sense of fulfillment to the journey.
Achieving the benefits requires a first step followed by more intentional steps. Those steps will move you beyond your comfort zone, leading to significant growth and a more enriched life. The late Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, once said, “By reaching for the impossible, we often actually do the impossible.”
What’s keeping you from reaching your full potential? ▪