The Longer You Stay in the Comfort Zone the Farther You Are From Growth…
The Longer You Stay in the Comfort Zone the Farther You Are From Growth…
The comfort zone: the place where we believe we are safe yet is possibly the most dangerous place on earth.
Eddie Harris Jr put it aptly when he said, “the sooner you step away from your comfort zone, you’ll realize that it really wasn’t all that comfortable.”
With that in place, let’s get on with my article.
1 You Scream Boring!
When we take no risks, and hold onto routine for dear life – we are not living. We’re just oxygen thieves adding little value to ourselves and those around us.
If we’re doing the same thing day in, day out… we’re not exactly going to be riveting company, are we? Figure out what you’re genuinely afraid of when you think of stepping out of the comfort zone.
Are you worried people will judge you?
Are you afraid that you don’t measure up to other’s expectations of you?
Are you concerned that you’re not smart enough to engage in conversation with others?
There’s a beautiful cliché that says, “amazing things stand on the other side of fear.” And as overused as what it is, it’s 100% true.
You are worthy and valued – but that starts with you valuing yourself!
2 A comfort Zone Stifles Creativity
Your routine is a case of wash, rinse, repeat. You eat the same foods, you watch the same genre of entertainment on Netflix, you read the same one-sided viewed articles and you hang out with the same people.
How on earth do you get your creative juices flowing if this is your lifestyle?
Who inspires you to work harder, improve and challenge yourself and become a better person?
When you leave the comfort zone behind, that’s when the magic happens. You find a new hobby, learn a new skill and realize you actually enjoy horse-riding, for example.
Which brings me to my next point…
3 A New Passion in Life Could Be Missed
Let’s stick with the horse example. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to ride a horse and been too damn afraid. So, you don’t ever try and you feel crap about it often.
You wonder what it would feel like to have your legs wrapped around a beautiful stallion… stick with me here, we’re still speaking about horses, lol… feeling the wind blowing through your hair and your body almost floating as the horse gallops along the beach.
Now, imagine for a moment, you fight your fear and you sign up for a guided beach ride. You absolutely love every single minute of it, and now you’re heading to the stables every weekend. You meet new people; you find new interests and your life has changed dramatically… and you’ve found a side of yourself you never knew existed.
Replace the horse with anything… cooking, singing, dancing, skating, writing or blogging. Just take the first step.
4 Opportunities Are Lost and Growth Is Inhibited
Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “You may be 38 years old, as I happen to be. And one day, some great opportunity stands before you and calls you to stand up for some great principle, some great issue, some great cause. And you refuse to do it because you are afraid….
Well, you may go on and live until you are 90, but you’re just as dead at 38 as you would be at 90. And the cessation of breathing in your life is but the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit.”
Is that how you want to live your life? Just coasting through? That’s just fucked up if you do! Or do you want to give it horns like Martin Luther King Jr. did?
The more you say yes to things, the more you will grow and the more doors will open to you. That is something I can personally guarantee! Been doing it since my middle teen years.
5 You’re Conditioned to Settle
Whether it’s with a partner, a career you feel meh about or even just the people you choose to hang out with – when you remain in your comfort zone, these parts of your life are often just mediocre.
You stick to the same job because it’s safe and you know you’re going to receive a paycheck at the end of each month.
You hang onto your partner, because “better the devil you know,” and you keep the same group of friends, however uninspiring they might be, because at least there are no surprises.
Are you fucking kidding me?!! This is no way to live your life. Ditch the partner, know your worth when it comes to your job and I give you permission to go out and meet new people and not feel guilty about it! You are worth way more than a mediocre life, so go out and take some risks and reap the rewards, because you deserve it.
6 Your Point of View Remains Limited And Possibly Stupid
When you’re watching the same news channel every day, or reading the same news website, watching the same old kind of YouTube and Tic Tok videos… you’re only exposing yourself to certain angles of news or life in general. And who knows who those publishers even got their information from?! Are, what even qualifies them to continue spreading out dated garbage, that is often wrong and deceptive to influence easy sheep followers!
This can lead to biased and one-sided interpretation of events, and speaking to outsiders can often feel challenging, and lead to arguments, when different points of views are brought across.
Depending on the news source, the information brought forward is often deceptive, dark and biased. We’ve all seen it with recent American elections – where certain sites were pro Trump or pro Biden, and each news article would look to find fault with either political candidate.
It’s easy then to focus more on the negatives of each candidate, when your source of news is only telling you the things, they want you to hear. This is all just dark, deceptive programming by false prophets, the uneducated and misinformed, conspiracy theorist of our times and they are everywhere, just like bacteria! Avoid these time wasting idiots, or watch your already boring life, suffer even far worse than boredom!
Its’s up to you to get your information from various sources, so you can step out of your comfort zone and see things from a different perspective. If the source or person isn’t challenging and even a bit off putting to you, you probably aren’t growing, becoming wiser and definitely not gaining a damn thing!
7 No Risk, No Reward
It really is that simple. You can’t expect change in your life if you’re doing the same thing day after day. This quote, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” is often misattributed to Albert Einstein, but is believed to be from a Narcotics Anonymous pamphlet published in 1981 – although worded slightly differently.
Regardless of who quoted it, it’s relevant to what we’re saying. If you’re not going to step out of your comfort zone, you can’t expect things in your life to change.
If you are keen to meet someone, but you keep going to the local drinking hole down the road from you, do you think one night, someone absolutely perfect for you is just going to waltz through the door? This is not a Hallmark movie, it’s life and if you don’t get up off your butt and get yourself out there to meet someone, they’re not just going to fall right into your lap.
No risk… no reward.
8 Routine Makes Us Lazy AF
When we’re doing the same thing over and over again, we get lazy. We’re not challenged anymore. We make mistakes. We don’t give our best effort to the task at hand.
It’s time to shake things up a little. Start small if you have too, but make some noise and break something!
Change your route to work. Head to a different coffee shop. Buy yourself flowers instead of crisps and chocolate and feel inspired every time you look at your beautiful blooms. From there you can build your confidence, and start doing more things that you usually wouldn’t dream of doing… like saddling up, riding a horse and bloody loving it!
9 You Have Unhealthy Boundaries With People
Sadly, you haven’t learnt the skills to draw the line. When people disappoint you, you don’t speak up for yourself – because… shock, horror… that is way too uncomfortable for you.
When you accept things but they don’t really align to your values, but you’re too afraid to challenge someone… shock, horror… that too is way too uncomfortable.
These are all unhealthy boundaries, and yes, it will be hard to deal with them… but imagine how much freer you will feel once you’ve waded through the discomfort?
10 You Lose Touch of Your Authentic Self
Who are you really? Do people know the real you? Do you know the real you? Or have you been living through the distorted view of others for so long, that you’ve forgotten who you are?
All I can say, is that until you step out of the comfort zone, you’re never going to truly know who you are and who you could potentially be.
11 Our Brains and Body Don’t Function at Their Best
We’re problem solvers, pioneers and inventors by very nature. If this wasn’t true then humans would never have evolved from hunter gatherer to tool mastery like we did. Everything from our brain to our bodies and all that lies in between thrives on being challenged.
Take for example exercising. If you just stick to the same 30-minute circuit at the gym routine you won’t see any improvement. Getting fitter or more built, or leaner happens when we challenge our bodies to more than they are currently comfortable with.
12 The Invites Will Dry Up
If you want a sure-fire way off the invite list of your friends or colleagues its being known for saying “NO.” People soon tire of hearing your excuses for why you can’t accept their invite and they will just stop inviting you along to things. I’m not saying to go full fuckin YES MAN on life, but at least start by accepting invites and see where it leads.
13 Resilience Is King! but the Comfort Zone Isn’t Fit for a King
It’s well accepted that one of the greatest take-aways we can send children into the world with is resilience. But resilience is built through your life from day one until the day you die. Resilience gives you the capacity to enjoy life despite challenges, instead of collapse into a heap and never get up again.
Babies cooking in the kitchen, now that’s just silly! Well so is staying in your comfort zone year in and year out, so get the fuck out of there then.
14 You Can’t Make Progress While Sitting Still
Sorry buddy but nothing comes to those that wait.
Science is clear that if you want something to happen you have to take some kind of action to initiate the change. Newton’s First Law or Motion explains it like this: “a body at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts on it, and a body in motion … will remain in motion … unless acted upon by an outside force.”
So, if you are sitting on your ass stationary that is where you can expect to be tomorrow, next year and next decade. But once you are moving you are on your way, and momentum will build and it gets easier, but that’s a science lesson for another day.
15 Staying in the Comfort Zone Can Lead to Discontentment and Depression
There is no reward for staying at a mundane party the longest, nor is there some kind of badge of honor for sticking it out in a dead-end job just to please your boss. The truth is that you’re just afraid of the unknown, a pussy. However, the result of being bored to tears is often a feeling of discontentment with your own life, and eventually depression.
You have one life, it’s not possible to live it for anyone else. Despite your best efforts at sacrificing your life for your partner, kids, boss, or parents or even a cause you believe in, you won’t be effective if it’s not what you love and what inspires and challenges you.
About the Author
