7 Ways to Break Your Comfort Zone
What is the comfort zone? Autopilot is the perfect term to describe it.
A Little Warning:
Breaking your comfort zone will cause a surge of energy and adrenaline followed by a feeling of mild euphoria.
Thus, inviting you to start over and going a little further.
Assembled, these experiences will increase your creativity, providing you with new tools, and a new kind of confidence.
Personal and professional benefits are subsequent. This can be the trigger for an entrepreneurial project or changing your duties at work.
Other side effects may include:
- Personal satisfaction by doing unusual things
- Improving your abilities in multiple domains
- Pushing your limits
- Broadening your range
- A more satisfying job
- A fuller life.
By comfort zone, I simply mean where you feel in total control; you don’t feel any notion of risk.
Unusual challenges lead to a psychological barrier influenced by various factors including your openness to new experiences, your taste for novelty and your risk tolerance.
The comfort zone extent is different to everyone. Some people have no trouble speaking to a huge crowd while others fear the mere thought of appearing in front of a small group.
Fortunately for you, everyone has the power to expand his comfort zone.
Born and raised in a unique context, we define our comfort zone differently. Until reaching adulthood, its development is greatly influenced by our parents and relatives.
We only take control of it the day we start flying on our own.
Evaluate your comfort zone.
Is your current life satisfying?
Is there room for improvement?
Why Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone?
Dr. Bob Parsons, LHD and founder of the website Go Daddy has the perfect answer:
“Once you get out of your comfort zone, you’ll break those imaginary shackles that hold you back. Fact is: all successful people know that security is an illusion. Spending time outside your comfort zone makes you feel alive like never before.
A sense of accomplishment you’ll experience will boost your confidence and allow you to draw on all the power you have to succeed.
I warn you, spending time outside your comfort zone is addictive. The more you do it, the more you’ll want to do it again and again and again.
Break your comfort zone with these 7 tricks.
1. Do something new
Create a blog, write a book, play an instrument, learn a new language, or follow an exercise program!
Try something new for at least 30 days as suggested by Matt Cutts.
2. Have your say.
Either in the classroom, at work, or at a meeting, ask a relevant question or express an idea, a comment or an appreciation.
If you prefer starting with smaller steps, thanking your teacher or the host of the meeting before leaving is a good kick-off!
3. Go to uncommon places.
Offer a little time to an organization relative to your values; take a dance, or a cooking class.
As long as it is related to your interest!
You can be surprised by the encounters and acquirements resulting from these activities.
4. Break your routine.
Take a different road to work.
Observe the houses, people, buildings and the beautiful trees during your ride.
Think about the things you can do to break your comfort zone: Such as offering a coffee, flowers, compliments, etc.
5. Meet new people.
Have your say; ask an open question on a subject relative to your interest to a work colleague or school comrade you have never spoken to, your bus or taxi driver, a homeless man, your postman, the server at the restaurant, etc.
Show interest to people from different cultures, other social or professional circles.
6. Travel
Whether it’s a short road trip in a mysterious corner of your region or a trip to the other side of the world, traveling provides you with endless opportunities to get out of your comfort zone.
New language, new customs, new dishes and new meetings are an integral part of traveling.
If the context allows, go live abroad.
In addition to allowing you to literally get out of your comfort zone, Maddux and Galinsky have recently demonstrated the link between creativity and living abroad.
7. Take daily cold showers.
In addition to its health benefits, taking cold showers every morning is a great way of getting used to going out of your comfort zone.
Every morning, you’ll remind yourself that getting out of your comfort zone is never as bad as it seems.
At first, it’ll feel so cold that you lose your breath for a few second.
Then, as these few seconds pass by, and as you get used to the water temperature, you’ll notice that it won’t be as bad as you thought.
Plus, taking cold showers in the morning is great for the skin as the hot water is irritating.
Even more, it is great to make you feel awake and gets your metabolism working, as your body needs to regulate your temperature!
Get out of your boring comfort zone.
It might seem horrifying at first, but you’ll start embracing it once you get used to it!
It all comes down to emotional triggering.
