Will you venture outside of your comfort zone to take
a chance on change?
One of the most dangerous words in our vocabulary is comfortable. Life is rolling along at a pretty good pace; work is going well; family life is humming along, too. Yes, we’re comfortable. Now what?
Will that comfortable feeling – no tug of war pushing us to adjust our life – also keep us from investigating an opportunity?
OR
Will that comfortable feeling get old quickly and move you to push the envelope?
Wikipedia defines comfort zone as: “a psychological state in which a person feels familiar, at ease, in control, and experiences low anxiety. A person in this state uses a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.”
The way I see it, spending too much time in my comfort zone can lead to a mundane life, leaving me wondering “What
if?” all too often. The story of my life will be a dreary one if I fail to exit my cozy little comfort zone. Sometimes you’ve just gotta answer that knock on the door and take a leap of faith.
What about you? Are you listening for opportunity or stuck in the comfort zone?
My clue is boredom. I have always sought mental stimulation. Mostly in conversation, brainstorming, exploring ideas and topics that were new to me. So I don’t find a comfort zone for too long or maybe I step back to one, until the next interesting moment/opportunity shows up.
Boredom is a big sign that we need to shake up our routine. Glad you pay attention to those signs!!
My least favourite words are “average” and “ordinary”. As a ComplacencyShaker, I also find that people are often resigned to staying in their comfort zone. I also think that life is for living and that the future is always coming towards us. When we are open and say “yes to life”, amazing things become possible. Although I do get bored quite easily, I have learned to have lots of things (that seem to somehow relate to one another) going at the same time. In answer to your question…I believe I am always listening, ears and heart wide open, for new opportunities. The comfort zone is not a place I like to find myself, ever. Great post, Deb, and a wonderful way to take stock and reasses if you are truly living, or merely existing.
Saying yes is not always easy, but is generally rewarding and freeing. I see so many people fall into existing rather than living as you referenced – keeping ears and heart open will encourage living a great life!
Funny my comfort zone is in change, but in this sense, finding life balance is in grounding myself a little bit. It’s good to settle on a specific purpose and follow through to stay the course!
Good point about grounding – staying grounded can actually give us the strength to move that comfort line out a bit. Growing and grounding side by sided.
Hi Deb 🙂
You have totally “hit the nail on the head” with this post! I am in totally agreement with you about comfort and for me personally getting out of my own comfort zone can be trying at times, good to know that I am not alone thinking this way 🙂 But yes getting out of our comfort zones is key to success always……change is always a good thing!
Great post!
Thanks, Joan – yes, change is a good thing. Scary sometimes, but keeps us from getting stuck in those ruts.
I wrote a very similar article years ago on this exact same topic. Opportunity is always knocking but too often we fail to let it in. We are all exactly where we are in life due to the decisions we make, good, bad or ugly. It is up to you to act when faced with opportunities to do better.
Linda Greenlaw wrote in Seaworthy, “I have always believed that the ability to answer the door when the right opportunity knocks is what separates truly successful people from the crowd.” Pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?
Interesting sometimes a comfort zone isn’t positive. It is just a place that easier to stay in then to do the work to move out it. Fear, exhaustion, lack of knowledge can all be reasons to move.
I find my comfort zone is much easier to move out of when everything that is going on is positive because I’m in a healthy state of mind, I have energy to change. When I find it the most difficult is when I have extra stress, then it is hard to find the energy to change things.
Great post thanks for sharing it .Very informative.Cheers