Blog Articles

Don't get out of your comfort zone!

What is the number one reason that people do not achieve their potential in life and in business?  Why do people not achieve their goals?  Why do many business owners not achieve the success they desire?

 

Is it their attitude??  No, we can choose our attitude

 

Is it a lack of belief??  No, belief can always come with time

 

Is it their skills??  No, skills can be learnt

 

No, it is this:

 

“The greatest enemy to human potential is your comfort zone”

- Brian Tracy

 

We all have a comfort zone where everything feels safe and familiar.

 

We tend to not want to venture beyond it.  We don’t want to get uncomfortable.  However, if we allow ourselves to stay there we will not be challenged, we will not experience personal growth, or learn new and exciting things.

 

In other words, we would stagnate.  And our businesses will stagnate.

 

Many people get comfortable and practically sleepwalk their way through our business lives.

 

But we have to stretch ourselves to make ourselves better, to learn, to improve.

 

Your comfort zone can confine you like a cage.  Too many people push aside their dreams for security and comfort. You are comfortable with certain aspects of your business.  You feel assured, happy.  But the thought of doing anything different to what you is “the norm” fills you with dread.  You are stuck in a rut – maybe telling yourself that you are satisfied with the business and the income and the life that you have now when originally you dreamed of building something greater, a bigger business, a better lifestyle, a wealthier future for your family.

 

What is your comfort zone?

Your comfort zone is your routine, your set of habits, your safety bubble of easy, comfortable and familiar habits.  It is all that is easy and comfortable and familiar. Within it you feel in control.   But just because your life is comfortable doesn’t mean that it’s perfect.

 

Your comfort zone could actually be holding you back and you may eventually become bored or stagnant.  Rather than a safety net, you may eventually resent your comfort zone if you feel that it is keeping you from progressing.  It prevents you from growing your business, from increasing your income and creating a better future.

 

Why don’t we leave our comfort zones?

We stay in our comfort zones because they are familiar, comfortable and safe. The longer we stay in “the zone", the harder it is to leave it.  The stronger the cage is, the higher the walls around our zone are.  We avoid risky situations, we avoid exposing ourselves to the chance of failure, or ridicule, or embarrassment

 

It feels safe there.

 

A ship in a harbour is safe!  But that is not what a ship was built for.  It was built to sail the oceans, to transport goods and passengers, to have a purpose.  To do something.

 

And we have to do something.

 

So what is the answer?  Do we all need to get out of our comfort zones as we hear so many telling us?  Is that right?

 

In my opinion NO!  Absolutely not!!! 

 

In my opinion, it is 'not true' that to be successful in business you need to get out of your comfort zone!!

 

Let me ask you this: are we more effective working in an area of competence or incompetence?  Are we more powerful when we are comfortable or uncomfortable?

 

If you say to most people “You need to get out of your comfort zone” they will think of leaps and bounds into uncharted territory, of exposing themselves to potential failure and embarrassment.  That is not exactly going to encourage people to do what you suggest.  What we need to do is to start 'stretching' our comfort zones

 

And that is what we must do – we must gradually stretch our comfort zones, bit by bit, little by little – at whatever pace is right for you.

 

It is not about great big uncomfortable leaps into the unknown.

 

What is outside our comfort zone?  Is it some great big abyss, some dark void that we are going to fall into and disappear?

 

No, outside the comfort zone is what we might term the learning zone.  Sometimes called the adventure zone, or I have seen the courage zone or the stretch zone.  Outside of our comfort zone are more skills, more wisdom, more knowledge and as we stretch outside, we get these experiences, these skills, this knowledge.

 

You just have to keep pushing little by little, expanding your comfort zone until what was once the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable, the scary, becomes commonplace, comfortable, easy.  And with that comfort comes competence.  And once you are comfortable and competent you will be confident and will be prepared to stretch further, expand your comfort zone further – it is an ongoing, progressive process.

 

So by stretching into your learning zone you expand your comfort zone bit by bit.

 

If you keep doing this, your confidence will grow, you will expand your comfort zone, you will get better and more proficient at it and like I said it will just become an everyday part of your life. It can become a habit within your comfort zone.

 

Learn new skills and get experience and expand your comfort zone.

 

So how can we get the motivation to expand our comfort zone?

We need to focus on our goals, on what we want to achieve from the business.  The bigger our comfort zones, the more willing we are to do what it will take to achieve our goals.  But we need to set big goals, HUGE goals – goals that make us feel a bit uncomfortable at the thought of what we have to do to achieve them.  There is no point in setting little goals that we can easily achieve without stretching ourselves, without stretching our comfort zones, without pushing into the learning zone.  You have to develop yourself to reach your potential.

 

If you only have small goals you will be unlikely to see them when obstacles and challenges come in your path.  But if you have big goals you will still be able to see them to focus on them past the obstacles and challenges.

 

Stretching your comfort zone enables you to smash through the obstacles and challenges in your way and propels you towards your goals, towards success, towards achieving your potential.

 

I will finish with this quote from one of my heroes, Ayrton Senna:

 

“And so you touch this limit, something happens and you suddenly can go a little bit further.  With your mind power, your determination, your instinct, and the experience as well, you can fly very high.”

 

25 way to get more customers