STEPPING OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

A wise man, John Assaraf, once said ‘a comfort zone is a beautiful place…’ And he’s spot-on. You’re probably thinking ‘if it’s such a beautiful place, why the need to step out of it?’ Well, that’s not the full John Assaraf quote. What he actually said is, ‘a comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.’ See, it’s starting to come together now.

You need to understand today that a place being beautiful doesn’t make it okay to stay in. Many people stay in their comfort zone all their lives and the implication is their dreams and aspirations, slowly, but steadily, fade away. You don’t want that for yourself and neither do I.

You need to step out of your comfort zone if you want to grow. However, the reality is stepping out of your comfort zone is not an easy task.  Why? Because your comfort zone is that space where everything is going on alright and your safety is guaranteed. Who wants to sacrifice that for an unknown life, with a risk of failure and no security? My answer – a person who knows the benefits of stepping out.

So, what are the benefits of stepping out of your comfort zone, which makes sacrificing the known for the unknown worth it?

1.   Self-Discovery

You may feel like you already fully know yourself, but trust me, there is still so much more to you than you can ever imagine. However, you will never discover these new things until you step out of your comfort zone, try new things, and go beyond your limit. One of my favourite sports quotes is, ‘you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ It’s as simple as that. To know how much you can accomplish, you have to step out of your safe space.

2.   Personal Growth

While self-discovery is concerned with finding skills and things you didn’t know about yourself, personal growth is developing those you already know of. To fully maximise these skills, you need to step out of your comfort zone. It helps you stretch to heights you never imagined. Don’t settle for mediocrity. You need to keep growing and stepping out of your comfort zone is one way to go about that.

3.   Self-Confidence

There is a spike of self-confidence that always accompanies the success you achieve when you try out new things. You will become more certain of your abilities and what you can achieve. Also, you will become more courageous to overcome your fears and do even more. If you don’t succeed the first time, keep trying. This will boost your self-confidence and before you know it, the fear of failure will have no control over you.

4.   Fulfilment

If you make it a habit to keep stepping out of your comfort zone, you are going to give your dreams an opportunity to become a reality. You will also be doing yourself a huge favour by finally becoming the person you are meant to be. One of the best feelings in the world is that of fulfilment. Oprah Winfrey described it best when she said  ‘ there is no paycheck that can equal the feeling of contentment that comes from being the person you are meant to be.’

We have talked so much about why you should leave your comfort zone, but exactly how do you do that?

1.   Stay Hungry

This was the advice given by Steve Jobs which I very much believe. If you always maintain a strong desire for more, to improve, you will find it easier to overcome your fears and live out your dreams.

2.   Trust yourself

‘I am good enough.’ Say this over and over again until you believe it. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You are good enough. Stop doubting yourself, step out and try. Fear rules the lives of many today because they just don’t believe in themselves. When they want to move on to that next level, out of their comfort zone, fear whispers in their ears ‘you aren’t good enough.’ But you are good enough. Don’t let fear and lack of confidence rob you of the exploits you are destined to perform.

Thank you for stopping by

Tarnya Coley- Personal Development Coach/ Speaker

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