10 Apr Why Your Comfort Zone Limits Your Life
In almost every blog I write, you see me warn about staying in your comfort zone. I’m sure you’ll start to ask yourself, “why is this guy so obsessed about my comfort zone?” Yes, we all want to be comfortable and have as little drama in our lives as possible. But, staying in a comfort zone and not being open to ever leaving your comfort zone leads to complacency. Complacency leads you directly into a rut that will stop all growth in your career and limit your life results.
As I’ve said before, I was the poster child for staying in a comfort zone. You can call me a double offender! I was in the Employee Mindset and Paycheck Security comfort zones for almost 30 years. My wife finally was showed me the entrepreneurial “light” and I am letting my entrepreneurial spirit soar! So, if you resemble any of the 3 traits below, just know that you can leave your comfort zone. Best of all you have us to help and guide you away from your zone and into entrepreneurial success!
The importance of being hungry and being open to change
Striving to be comfortable can be dangerous. In the sports world, the team that is the most comfortable is rarely the team that ends up being the most successful at the end of the season. Instead, the team that is the hungriest is usually the most successful team.
In strictly professional terms, if you’re not hungry, then you’re probably in the comfort zone. There are varying stages of being in the zone. In other words, some people are more comfortable than others. Ideally, you want to avoid the comfort zone altogether. It’s okay to feel a sense of accomplishment. It’s okay to feel good about your professional achievements. The problem arises when those feelings reach the point where they begin to betray you. Your comfort basically holds you hostage and doesn’t allow you the freedom to move forward or to grow in your career or your life.
Here are 3 points that show how the comfort zone holds you back from career growth and life success:
ONE—Being “comfortable” enables you to say “No” to trying a new opportunity.
When you’re in the comfort zone, you are subconsciously looking for ways to stay in your comfort zone. Your first priority, whether you realize it or not, is to stay in the comfort zone. This priority comes directly from your brain! Subconsciously our brain betrays us to keep us in the Comfort Zone. The first job of our brain is to keep us safe. Our current comfort zone is familiar, and our actions are “known” to our brain. Familiar and known equal safety to our brain. Because of this, our brain will work tirelessly to make us fear anything outside of the comfort zone, as it assumes all unknown actions are unsafe actions.
Being too deep in the “zone” allows you to say “No” to an opportunity without finding out what that opportunity entails. The comfort zone aids and abets a person when they aren’t even open to just hearing about a new opportunity.
TWO—It gives you the illusion of job security.
Yes, job security is an illusion. You may think you will always have the job that you have right now or that you’re irreplaceable in your position. More than likely, both of those thoughts are false. Think about your current job for a minute. Are you planning to retire while still in this job? If not, that means you’re going to have another job before you retire.
Even if you’re planning to retire while still in this job, that doesn’t mean your plan will come to fruition. True, some jobs are more secure than others, but NO job is 100% secure. There are no guarantees, but when people are in the comfort zone, that is not something that they easily acknowledge. If you can’t get out of the employee comfort zone you will never allow your entrepreneurial spirit to fly.
THREE — The role of fear in the comfort zone equation
So how do you move out of the comfort zone once you’re in it? It’s not as easy as one might think. That’s because of the role that Fear of change plays in the whole equation. Simply put, fear often convinces people to stay in the zone and not attempt to move out of it, even if bigger and better things await them. The people who enjoy the most professional success are those who have the most opportunities and options and who proactively take advantage of those options to grow their careers.
When you land a new job, there’s plenty of apprehension. There’s fear regarding the submission of your resignation letter, specifically how your current employer will react. There’s anxiety about whether or not the job will work out and even about your new boss and coworkers. It’s normal to experience a degree of fear when considering a new opportunity or job transition. However, those people who can overcome their fear and break out of their comfort zone are typically the ones who enjoy the most success.
Fear can appear very real, but in most cases, that fear is false. The emotion is real enough, but the circumstances causing that emotion are not. Put another way, the fear is not based on anything that will actually happen, but only on what your brain thinks might happen. Succumbing to fear helps keep you in the comfort zone. If you’re in the comfort zone, then you are reactive instead of proactive. And if you act reactively, then you’re limiting not only your opportunities, but also your options.
Final Thoughts
Staying in your comfort zone is comfortable and safe. But you will never reach your full career or life potential. I urge you to practice Comfort Zone motivation to open your mind so you can move outside your comfort zone. I’m going to end the blog this week with 6 quotes about comfort zone growth that I love and think you will too! Here are the quotes:
All growth starts at the end of your comfort zone. Tony Robbins
You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new. Brian Tracy
My comfort zone is like a little bubble around me, and I’ve pushed it in different directions and made it bigger and bigger until these objectives that seemed totally crazy eventually fall within the realm of the possible. Alex Honnold
Do one thing every day that scares you. Eleanor Roosevelt (Love this one! ~Fred)
One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again. Abraham Maslow
Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning. Benjamin Franklin
May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears. Nelson Mandela
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