6 tricks to come out of your Comfort Zone

Imagine you are building a new house with all your labor, with all your hard-earned money, and with all the help from your family and friends. Once it is done, would you stay all the time inside that house? It can be a place to go back. You can have the utmost ease of staying at home. You don’t know the situation outside until you step out of it. Sometimes, it may be hot. Sometimes, it may rain. Sometimes, you can see a lovely puppy. Sometimes, it can even be a dangerous snake. Fearing a snake, you don’t have to miss a lovely puppy. Isn’t it? The house is your comfort zone. But, you need to explore the outside world to grow.

Here are the six tricks that you can start with.

1. List down the things that you were once afraid of:

Think of anything that you were once afraid of and overcame. List them out. You are what you are now just because of those steps you took outside your boundaries. So, whenever you want to get out of your comfort zone, take a look at this list and it will tell you the importance of moving out.

For me, it’s driving. I was told by my friend that passing a driving test in the US is way too difficult and I totally believed it. Because I can use that as an excuse for not learning it. But then I decided to give it a try maybe because of some motivation I gained. So, I joined the driving class and you know what, I cleared the test on my very first attempt. What if I did not even try? I would have missed the real fun of driving. When you have done something that you thought you could not, it gives immense pleasure and real satisfaction.

“In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take” – Lewis Carroll.

2.The “Just One more” method:

It is as same as what we do on social media or games. We always end up saying just one more episode on Netflix, just one more level in games, and just one more scroll on social media. Why not use the same towards your growth.

This way you will come out of your comfort zone with ease. Because all you ask is ‘just one more’ and when you accumulate them for a month, you’re already 30 steps ahead. And the best part is, without giving you that pressure of overwhelming.

When you do feel like you are done or even reached the target that you have set, ask yourself: Just One more? Check whether you stop just because you reached the target or you really cannot do anymore.

One more round of jogging. One more day of dieting. One more hour of studying. Trust me, the results are going to be huge.

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it” – Michelangelo

Raise the level of your bar to reach heights. Even 1 more inch means a lot.

3. Use your motivation as soon as you gathered it:

A Comfort zone demands a strong motivation to let you go out of it. Something out there always motivates us but the intensity decreases with time. As we are good at procrastinating, the enthusiasm that we gain from any resource will fade away in no time.

You would watch a video of someone losing 20lbs in 6 months with a proper diet and a good workout. Just after watching this, you would plan for your next 6 months. But the very next day, when already 50 % of your motivation is gone, you would say yourself some good reasons for not starting it. By the end of the week, your idea of losing weight will be out of your mind.

So, right after you gained some motivation that you think can push you ahead, start acting on it. Once you started acting on it, there are good chances of continuing it. And soon, you will cross the boundary of your comfort zone.

You don’t have to run immediately the next day after you watched that video. Instead, once you watched the video, you can just google to find a place where you can start. A gym to workout or a nearby park to walk/jog. The next day, you can just visit the place.

Take small but immediate steps. This way you will not lose the energy that you gained.

Write some words that motivated you in a place where you can see them regularly. It can be a sticky note on the wall or your desktop wallpaper or a poster in your work area. Anything would work. This way you can keep up the momentum.

4. Break down your bigger desire into smaller tasks:

Your goal may seem more difficult when you just look at it as a whole big task. You could see your goal is too far from your comfort zone. Which would make you question the possibility of the outcome.

So, just break down your goals into tiny, really tiny milestones. Consider each of those as a small goal. The feeling of accomplishing a goal is way better than taking a step. It will increase your confidence at the same time keep you motivated to take consistent actions.

“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs” – Michelangelo

Setting bigger goals and not able to handle them along with your daily tasks would be frustrating. That’s why we find games pleasing and entertaining. It is not designed with a bigger goal of reaching the finish line but with several levels towards it. Each time you finish a level, you have a satisfaction of success. It increases your belief and you keep going.

Check this article from Forbes. Lewis Howes clearly describes the power of thinking small. He doesn’t ask us to break our goals into smaller pieces but to set smaller goals and achieve them. This can help you accomplish your bigger goals.

5. Cracking criticism:

Whatever you do, there will always be some people out to criticize. There is no use in taking the critics seriously and worry a lot about it. It is just going to make you more uncomfortable and prevent you from growing.

If you want to come out of your comfort zone, you should know how to deal with this very thought – “What would others think about me? Check this article to come out of that bubble.

Also, criticism means you are doing something that people have judgments on. That’s actually a positive sign.

“Criticism can bother you, but you should be more bothered if there’s no criticism. That means you are too safe” – Kanye West

Some of them really care and give you constructive criticism. You are the one, who needs to decide on whether it is useful or stressful. Whether you need to take action on it or just ignore it.

Either way, keep in mind not to hurt yourself as well as others. Stay wise.

6. Dive into Action:

We already have enough of our thoughts wasted in our lives. Let’s start acting on it at least now. We are not going to lose anything if we fail. So, stop thinking about all the failure scenarios and start moving. Yes, you should have a plan to lay back if something goes wrong. But you will never start to execute if you keep on thinking only about “Back up plans”

Instead of thinking about the right ways to come out of your comfort zone, start taking action. You’ll learn on the way. In fact, there is no right way to apply. Whatever works for you is the right way. The sooner you take action, the sooner you’ll be out of your comfort zone. 

“A good plan implemented TODAY is better than a perfect plan implemented tomorrow” – George Patton

Conclusion

Coming out of your comfort zone is a big deal. It needs a lot of courage and perseverance. You may face failures in your way. But it is not the end of the world. Failing should not set you back but should drive you ahead with more strength.

Instead of worrying about your mistakes, check on what went wrong. As many successful people say, If you don’t make any mistakes, you are not really trying.

Keep growing by challenging yourself with discomforts. Staying inside a cocoon may seem comfortable, but you can fly heights only after coming out of it. 😊

So, how did you come out of your comfort zone? Share your ideas which I can try in my journey.