Self-Improvement
5 Extraordinary Things You Learn When You Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Since childhood, we may not seem to notice what’s comfort, or there is a thing called ‘comfort zone’ you can actually fall and be trapped in.
The reason is because we didn’t have the adult brakes in childhood, if you know what I mean.
There are crucial things we aren’t taught in school, and in spite of that we are educated on the global scale of learning.
The global scale of learning is the overall school education. I sucked at painting, I hated it, and yet I had to paint to get a better grade.
From primary school until present day I haven’t painted, and I don’t have any plans to do it in the future.
No one ever told me that time is the most valuable lesson in life, until I read it from dozens of books.
No one ever told me, too, that my life is not meant to be safe. Or that my life will expand (spiritually and mentally) if I step out of what makes me comfortable.
All I heard was to stay safe, get out of trouble, to dry my hair before going out, or to take my jacket because it’s cold. Maybe that was meant for bad ‘type’ of troubles. But I wasn’t told that too.
What I’ve experienced (and I’m still an early bloomer) is that comfort zone keeps my eyes shut, my ears clogged, and my mouth glued.
You may’ve never heard of the following 5 extraordinary things you learn when you step out of your comfort zone:
1. Freedom means Courage
Everyone is free. That’s printed in our soul when we get out of the womb.
But the real freedom lies in being courageous to stand out for what our inside is telling us to do. Some call it gut feeling.
It’s the most brilliant habit, imaginary organ, and mental guide there is.
Our main target is to set ourselves free, and we have our whole life to achieve that (the sooner the better).
Just take a quick glace on your life back…
When you stepped out of your comfort zone (something you did when your were scared to death from it) you were in a trance where you have an overall control of your thoughts. Just by having that, you are completely capable of feeling or having any emotion! It set’s you free! That’s the only moment when you feel alive, if only for a couple of minutes.
“Watch your thoughts. They become words. Watch your words. They become deeds. Watch your deeds. They become habits. Watch your habits. They become character. Character is everything.” – Lao Tzu
Real happiness lies in walking the route of freedom by being sufficiently courageous to step out of what is safe.
Adventure is never safe, and it is the most beautiful thing there is. That’s where we get to the next step.
2. Nothing is ever safe
Take a quick glance at the world around us. Karma is precisely what this guy says it is.
The Tsunami killed 230.000 people, who may not even had one parking ticket in their lives. Who says your country is safe from natural disasters, or that some guy won’t have in mind to get out and kill 200 people (including you)? No one is ever safe in this environment.
So when we mention the oh-so-spoken word karma, it is a knife with two blades.
It’s the harsh truth, but it’s also the best motivational factor.
What did Steve Jobs remind himself every morning? This is what he says:
“When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
No one promises you tomorrow. All we have is today, and we have to do what we have to do, for us:
3. Discomfort is the best comfort
You can lay in your bed, skipping your professional training (whatever sport you may do), or you may lay in your bed putting your project on hold, but as long as you don’t force yourself to stand up in your ‘PLEASE JUST 5 MORE MINUTES’, you will never get anything done.
You will blame the world for your “bad luck” because you were laying when your world needed support.
Standing up from the 5 more minutes may be the worst feeling in the beginning, but in the end will turn out to be the best, sweetest feeling before you fall asleep at night.
We are never comfortable to see people eating pizzas, or burgers with fries, but when you’re on a diet, you will have to stay in that drooling discomfort. This applies to everything in life.
“Be willing to be uncomfortable. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. It may get tough, but it’s a small price to pay for living a dream.” – Peter McWilliams
4. It’s not easy (or will become easier)
Sometimes one simple f*ck it can become great motivational factor to step out of the comfort zone.
What’s more important is the way we step out is never easy, nor will become easier.
I often compare it with running; when I have long distance (about 15k run) I force myself as hard as I can to be faster from the previous run, and for some it may be the same level of stress and effort for 5k run.
You see, it never gets easier. Not in running, not in project, nor in life. We just have to find comfort in being uncomfortable. We do upgrade ourselves to function on higher rate and bigger problems with the same force we used in the low level.
That’s why it is of HIGH importance to find a suitable job/hobby/environment we love. Otherwise everything will be torture, and the comfort zone will be around as long as we don’t change.
5. Stupidity is different than stepping out of comfort
I believe we do have two types of ‘stepping out’ of comfort zone. One is constructive and one is destructive.
I’ve tried to satisfy my adrenaline by stepping out of my destructive comfort and got my car swirling on the roof. It is highly recommended to learn how to listen to your gut and intuition.
Trying on new job interview and challenging yourself to get your dream job is stepping out of your constructive comfort zone.
Now, constructive comfort can end up with negative outcome, but we are going to feel better just by trying to get the positive. That’s what the magic does when we step out of the safety circle we shackle ourselves with.
Life will challenge us with many difficult situations, but if we are able to take the shield from the mud and stand our ground, we will end up as the winning gladiators.
What thrills you to “attack” the constructive comfort in your life?
Image source: Andy Spearing/Flickr
