One Step at a Time!

Each of us has our own comfort zones. It’s a psychological, emotional or behavioural space where you think and act in ways that minimises risk and stress. It provides a state of mental security. It’s easy to be comfortable because there is no risk of failure. But experiencing a little stress now and then is actually a good thing. Without it, you won’t experience anything new.

Andy Molinski published his article in Harvard interview about this topic: As we grow and learn in our jobs or careers, we are constantly faced with situations where we need to adapt our behavior. It’s a reality of the world that we live in today. And without the skill and the courage to take the leap we can miss out on important opportunities for advancement.

What if you go too far outside of your comfort zone where you don’t feel like you have any chance of succeeding. This is called as ‘Zone of destructive anxiety’. In this zone, you’re too stressed to be productive. You’ll be unable to focus and you could have completely clouded judgements.

A human being always wants to be in between a comfort zone and zone of destructive anxiety. This in between place is ideal for learning and growth. This zone which is in between is known as the zone of optimal anxiety (zone of proximal development) and it is where we want to be. The zone of proximal development is the space where you’re challenged but if you put in extra efforts and seek support that you need, you can achieve the outcome. This positive relationship between performance and stress is known as the Yerkes Dodson Law.

What do you essentially get when you step out of your comfort zone?

1. You’ll be more productive: Comfort kills productivity. Pushing personal boundaries can help you in a better way. It can give you the drive to learn new things. To think more and to be more.
2. You’ll be more adaptable: You’ll be more adaptable to change. If you challenge yourself to do things which you normally wouldn’t do, you can prime your body to be able to handle changes.
3. You’ll be more creative: When you seek new experiences and learn new skills and open new doors, you become inspired. One of the Harvard researcher said that ‘Half of the frustration can make us more creative’. It depends upon you how you choose it to make more creative. By doing this, you’re really expanding the size of your comfort zone which is a win-win situation. The more you do the difficult task, the easier it become. Escape your comfort zone and take one step at a time. Don’t try to take too much too quickly. Allow yourself time. Breakdown your goals into small achievable steps.
4. Do things that scares you: Use some time of the day that challenges you to do something different. Become familiar with your discomforts. Accept that there will be challenges to reduce this discomfort.
5. Become your own personal coach: You can elevate your thinking by self coaching. Ask questions and try giving answers of it yourselves. For ex, What could be the worst case?, What is holding me back?, How can I make this a better experience.

The comfort zone is the greatest enemy of courage and confidence — Brian Tracy