Venture Out of Your Comfort Zone

Many people choose to live most of their lives only in their “Comfort Zone.”  Their lives are dictated by routine and familiar activities.  Some folks rarely take any risks.  Others may not go exploring because they fear they may not like the adventure and/or that they will get lost.  Other people may avoid learning a new sport because they know they will not experience mastery when they begin to learn.

But, as pleasant as it may feel to stay within our own Comfort Zone, we may begin to feel empty and bored with a lack of variety and challenges.  Within the Comfort Zone, we rarely feel the exhilaration of a new adventure, nor do we have the thrill of new accomplishments.

Activities that might be outside your Comfort Zone might include:  traveling to new places; running in a 10K race; taking a photography course; meeting new people; playing a musical instrument; eating food that you haven’t tried before; taking a course in astronomy; playing tennis; remodeling a room in your house; and/or attending Toastmasters.

Some new experiences are simply different and pleasant, and therefore might be easy to do.  However, we may resist doing other new experiences because of the extra effort and of the possibility of failure.  Other new experiences require tolerating the frustration of not being immediately adept, and they may require our practicing to achieve mastery.  Yet some other new experiences may require that we alter our image of ourselves are create a vision of what we may become.

Since we’re more inclined to remain comfortable, in order the consider the possibility of a fascinating new experience, we must consciously increase the desirability of that experience, decide to push ourselves outside our Comfort Zone, and then attend to accomplishing and/or enjoying the new experience as much as it seems possible.  By doing this we can embrace the adage:  “Nothing ventured; nothing gained.”