We all have our comfort zone – a zone that makes us feel safe, confident, and most of all, comfortable. Anything that tries to invade this zone, or makes us get out of it, is considered foreign & undesirable. But is it really meant to be that way?
Franklin D. Roosevelt rightly said: ‘A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor’. Imagine a world where everyone stayed within their comfort zone. We would probably have never seen records being broken, inventions being made, or humans pushing themselves to do the impossible!
That brings us to our question – Are we really meant to stay within our comfort zone? No, absolutely not.
Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone starts from your childhood. You learn to crawl – push yourself a bit further – you learn how to walk – push yourself a bit further – you learn how to swim – and so on. You learn your first words – push yourself a bit further – you learn to form words & sentences – push yourself a bit further – you become fluent in multiple languages. You would not be who you are today, had you not been pushing yourself to the next level.
Then why do we become so hesitant to take risks and go beyond our comfort zone as we grow up? The answer is ironic – it’s because we become more rational with age. We tend to rationalize and weigh every situation, and mostly end up refraining from taking the risk. We stop being the young, experimental minds anymore ready to be moulded.
But at the same time, you will barely see anyone making a difference to themselves or to the world by staying in their comfort zone. Stepping out of your comfort zone is the only way you will know what lies beyond your frame of imagination. This could be anything from challenging yourself to face your fear of height, or making that one phone call that could change your life.
Taking the leap & facing your fears also has one major advantage – it makes you 100x more confident about yourself. You get the mental strength to achieve anything you want. You feel one step closer to your goal, and you learn so much more about yourself.
So the next time you sit down to rationalize if you should take the leap or not, remember:
