If you’re feeling too comfortable being where you are, then it’s time to take a step and get out. Why? Because you find yourself in the comfort zone which, although as its name suggests, provides security, protection and tranquility, it can lead to dangerous monotony.

The comfort zone is associated with a mental state that makes us feel safe because there are no risks and, consequently, anxiety levels and fears are also under control. When anxiety is timed, we feel that we have a constant performance that is enough to lead the “normal” life we have.

However, this safety or security that we feel by staying in our comfort zone could be harmful for our professional performance and even lethal for our aspirations and dreams to be fulfilled.

In all this context of apparent comfort, apathy, laziness, conformism, and lack of desire to progress take root in our lives.

I invite you to read on to learn how you can turn off autopilot and boost your creativity and self-confidence.

Getting out of the comfort zone: 3 keys to success

Each person functions differently when faced with stimuli, proposals, situations, etc., but I believe that we can all put these suggestions into practice (in our own way).

1. Deciding to Leave

The first thing we have to do is to make the decision to leave our comfort zone: to have the deep desire to want to leave that space whose comfort does not allow us to grow. Which are your goals? What prevents you from achieving them? What would you want to do if you were not where you are?

At this point, willpower is crucial and will be the engine that will set us in motion to leave the inertia we are in.

• Changing Habits

If we do not modify what we have been doing, we will not move out from our place. The idea is to start with small changes of habits that, added together, will gradually lead us to leave this space that limits us. Perhaps we could start by doing small things we wouldn’t normally do: trying new activities, changing aspects of routine, exploring new experiences, etc. 

• Facing Fears

Fear has a dual function, one that paralyzes us and the other that activates us. When it immobilizes us, it does not allow us to develop our full potential, then it is time to rethink what we are doing or, better said, what we are not doing so that a certain situation does not revert.

Let us allow ourselves to feel a little fear that makes us uncomfortable, that tickles us, and that invites us to act in search of an uncertain future that awaits us to challenge us.

 I say goodbye with a quote from the famous speaker Brian Tracy, “The comfort zone is the great enemy of courage and confidence”. Courage is necessary to make the decision and act accordingly, because we know it will not be easy. Confidence (in ourselves), on the other hand, is the best support we can have to explore other areas that offer new challenges to discover and meet.

Translator Jimena Freytes