“As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal” — Robin S. Sharma
In order to grow as individuals, we have to get out of our comfort zones and push ourselves a little harder each day! The stronger you push yourself to grow, the larger the scale of your comfort zone becomes. What I mean by that is what is comfortable to you, might not be comfortable to somebody else. The majority of us spend most of our time in our comfort zone. As the name implies “Comfort Zone”, it is the place of comfort; safe, easy and predictable. Your comfort zone is a place where you feel in control. You experience low-anxiety and you use a limited set of behaviors. What does this really mean? Comfort zones encourage mediocrity. And after a while, you begin to think that average is acceptable.
Without the extra courage to take the leap outside of our comfort zone, we can miss out on important opportunities for growth in our leadership potential. Courageous and uncomfortable leadership means taking some kind of risk, no matter how small they are. Sometimes, this means us being in an uncomfortable place. However, when you feel uncomfortable and step outside of your comfort zone, that is where the giant opportunity for growth is!
Leader Richard Branson said “If you opt for a safe life, you will never know what it’s like to win.”
How do you define your comfort zone? The dictionary says it’s the place where “you feel comfortable and your abilities are not being tested.” In a second definition, the comfort zone is the place where “you don’t have to worry about doing anything new or different.”
We’ve all heard the saying time and time again to “step out of your comfort zone”. How do we do it but not push ourselves too far? It sounds like an easy phrase to throw around, but sometimes advice is easier to give than to take. How about the phrase “a cat only burns himself on a hot stove once”. Basically stating that it’ll never make that same mistake again. Do you know what else it means? It won’t burn itself on a cold stove either. Because it’ll never take any chances like “that” of jumping on the stove again. You have to be smart when challenging your comfort zone, so that you don’t cripple yourself from challenging yourself down the road as you grow!
Well, y’all are in luck as thankfully I’ve learned some things about the freedom that comes from trying some new things and breaking out of boxes and restrictions. I’d like to share the things that I’ve learned that may have seemed uncomfortable at first, but brought me joy, excitement and opportunities as I challenged myself over the years!
1. Make Changes to Your Daily Routine – This one might seem easy to consider. But it’s easier said than done, and holds so much power! Get up earlier, read a book, spend quality quiet praying or meditating, journaling, planning your day, exercise. I could go on and on. Getting up earlier than the world is a powerful tool. It doesn’t mean you get an extra hour to do tasks. This is your time to focus on self growth items. I like to do all of my personal growth early before the world needs me. From there, I like to tackle my most challenging tasks of the day before lunch time. That way the afternoon is dedicated to helping others, and just knocking tasks off my “to do” list.
2. Mentor somebody – Every one of us has a superpower that has gotten us to where we are at in life. Some of you have multiple ones! Take the time out of your days to train and coach somebody on your greatest talents. When you teach others to do what you love and are passionate about, the only direction you can go is up! Somebody asked me once “what if I train an employee everything I know and they decide to leave me and go somewhere else?” I answered, “what if you don’t and they decide to stay?”
3. Learn something new (personally and professionally) – Over this last year, I switched my workout routine from running to strength training. I have had the same (comfortable routine) now for about 15 years. It is comfortable to me to strap on my running shoes and go lay down 5 miles. While to some, that sounds crazy. I’d go to the gym, and instead of lifting any weights, I’d jump on the treadmill and drench myself in sweat laying down miles. I never could figure out why my weight and shape just kind of stayed the same the last 5-7 years. It’s because my body was comfortable with running. I adapted to the routine, therefore it wasn’t doing any more sculpting. I hired a personal trainer to teach me technique and new routines, and began lifting weights 5 days per week, Not only have I shredded my weight, I feel incredible, and am completely re-shaping my body! This was a huge step out of my comfort zone!
4. Face a personal fear – What are some items that the thought of them scares the heck out of you? Maybe it’s delegating a tasks that you THINK nobody can do better than you. Maybe it’s hiring a babysitter so you and your spouse can have a date night. Maybe it’s reaching out to that potential client you want to sell, but are afraid they’ll say no. The best way to face these fears is to make a list of the worst that could happen and the best things that could happen. Ask yourself this, how are you going to feel if you don’t do it? Focus on the best things that can happen if you get to face your fear. Accept that the worst things that can happen may not be all that bad!
5. Remember that every day is a new day – What doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger. You will survive, you will heal, you will learn something new! What are some things you are putting off until tomorrow that you know you should be doing today? Just 1% growth daily will be exponential over time!
Dale Carnegie says that “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Our brains sure do go through a lot of trouble to keep us safely tucked into our comfort zones. Within these ‘safety zones’ we carry out our normal daily routine, content in the knowledge that we have the skills required to manage the situations we regularly face on a day-to-day basis; whether it be in our work, at home, or within our relationships with others. And so the years continue to quickly pass by in a feeling of security, as our brains try to shield us from stressful experiences or any types of uncomfortable surprises. As it is supposed to do, our personal comfort zone does an excellent job of protecting us from danger, impulsive decision-making, and most types of potential embarrassing moments we might do to ourselves!
But on the flipside to this: Our comfort zone also protects us from any type of growth!
Performance rises significantly when we are required to step a little out of our comfort zones. This slightly uncomfortable state of mind exerts a bit of pressure and pushes us to rise up to the challenges at hand. Although if the stress is too great, then the anxiety overwhelms us and our performance plummets. The key to overcoming this is to set achievable goals that are currently just out of your reach, and also to return back to your comfort zone periodically to rest and recharge your batteries. Whatever that looks like, it’s VERY important to recharge every now and then!
We will land the plane with this… The most successful leaders know that they have to step out at times in order to achieve top performance and keep building their skills and self-confidence as leaders. Those who step out of their comfort zone soon realize that the new skill obtained rapidly becomes part of their existing comfort zone, and so the comfort zone expands to take in more challenges, more interesting skills, and a greater self confidence that positively informs each new task and adversity that comes their way.
Remember this my amigos – Stepping out of your comfort zone can (and will) transform you and those that you lead. As leaders and influencers, YOU set the tone, and you will be surprised to see your team carry out a whole new enthusiasm for learning new skills and going to new levels. The key is that if it makes you a bit excited and a bit scared at the same time, then that’s a great challenge to go for to really expand to new horizons! If it seems easy, it’s probably wrong. If it seems hard, it’s probably right!
Don’t be afraid. You got this! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with accepting that you like being comfortable and there’s for sure a time and place for that. But do you also like excitement and want to be challenged? The best leaders constantly challenge the status quo of the day-to-day! If you want to do things in a new way, you’re going to want to step outside your self-imposed box. Fear keeps us frozen, and like anything you do long enough, it actually becomes a habit. Lean into what this amazing life has to offer, and go for it!