Leaving your comfort zone

Are you too comfortable?

Humans are creatures of habit. We love comfort, we crave routine, and we rely on predictability. However, staying in our comfort zone can also lull us into not growing, improving, or learning.

As a business owner or entrepreneur, if things change, you’re not evolving, which means you and your business will quickly become irrelevant. It’s also important to remember that big breaks rarely come knocking at our door, so it’s essential to get out there and find opportunities.

It's okay to wade in; you don't have to dive off the deep end!

When making change and fostering growth, you don’t have to close your eyes and hope for the best as you step off a cliff. Instead, you should take small strategic steps toward your goal to ease your way out of your comfort zone.

For example, if you’re in the networking process, instead of making ten cold calls in one day, start with one call today. Or aim for five calls over a week. By doing this, you’ll gain experience and confidence, all while slowly learning to face your fears. Each time you take a small step outside of your comfort zone, you’re proving to yourself that you can get comfortable with the uncomfortable, much in the same way that as you work out muscles in the gym, exercises get more manageable.

Remember, most of our fears are not as horrible as we make them out to be. Some of the most incredible things we’re afraid of—rejection, criticism, failure—are things we’ve experienced before, and we’ve lived to tell the tale!

If you’re still caught up in your head about the worst-case scenario, ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” As you realize that the worst-case scenario is both survivable and likely improbable, you’ll begin gaining the courage to take risks and move forward.

"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, bu nothing ever grows there." John Assaraf.