There are a lot of happy people in this world. Some of them are successful in what they are doing. And some of those share their stories to help other people. Your comfort zone is a topic lots of people talk about. Those people give you reasons why you should do things out of your comfort zone. They experienced the most amazing things while doing so, and they want you to experience great moments as well. Even on this website, you can find a personal story with that message. After reading, watching, and seeing pictures about these stories, you get it; doing things out of your comfort zone can make your life a lot more fun.
The thing is, this can feel far away from you actually doing it. The reason for this is that the examples about doing things out of your comfort zone you get mostly are big and extreme examples. You don’t see yourself studying abroad on your own or starting your own business, you may only dream about it. Further, the steps they take seem unreal for you to do. It is hard to think about what steps you need to take to get somewhere. Every step seems so big and feels uncomfortable, and you think a lot about the consequences (which are most of the time negative). So, you don’t take the step, which feels comfortable, but deep down you regret not taking it.
Good news for you; choices out of your comfort zone mostly are not big and extreme at all! The only thing is that the voice in your head makes it seem like that. Take this example. During your break from school or work, you always get some coffee. You have a favorite one you always choose. Now, you see a new flavor on the menu. You start thinking that it cannot beat your favorite one, but when you look at it, there is a chance that it tastes good. So, because it is just coffee, you try it out. When tasting it, you do not find it bad at all! Even more, in the future, you will not always choose your normal pick but for this new coffee. You are glad that you tried it; you experienced something new that you did not want to do in the first place and it worked out well!
Now, let’s look at a situation where there are other people involved. You are looking online for new clothes to buy. Then you see an advertisement for a person wearing a necklace. You are seeing that wearing a gold necklace can look cool and you are imagining yourself with a golden necklace. You like that image, so you are buying it. Even though you have never bought something like that before, you look forward to receiving it. The necklace finally arrives, and you are trying it on. It is always a bit exciting to actually wear it in public, but you bought it, so why leave it at home. While wearing it proudly, people notice it and compliment you. This feels great, you are happy that you did not think too much about the possible negative consequences and just did it :)
While there are people who compliment you, it is possible that people will think negatively about you buying it. Their reason for that can vary: they are jealous of that necklace, it is not their style, or they can be jealous of you doing something that would be way out of their comfort zone (deep down they want to do it as well). Know that it is either of these reasons and that you are better than these negative thoughts or comments. Make sure to not spend time on that negative energy. It is not nice, but as long as you are happy with it, who are they to judge you? You cannot always keep everyone happy, even Jesus had haters!
So, move on and be proud of yourself. To do things out of your comfort zone, you cannot expect only positive things. The good thing about this is that you learn from it, which makes you stronger. Thus, try new things out and stay open to either outcome; positive or negative. Either way, it is going to turn out positive for you if you have the right attitude; enjoy the good choices and learn from the bad ones. When you live with this attitude, you make choices out of your comfort zone much easier :)
You will experience that when you take a lot of choices out of your comfort zone, every new choice is easier to take. It is still out of your comfort zone, but you get more used to stepping out of it. After you bought that necklace, you are much more likely to buy a matching bracelet, which was a much harder choice for you to take before you bought the necklace. So, take the first step and get the ball rolling. Text a friend to do something fun, buy a book that interests you, listen to a new genre, try some new clothes, visit a new city, go to places where you meet new people, cook a different foreign dish, watch new series, try a new haircut, just do something out of your comfort zone and see how it goes. Your life will be much more entertaining for yourself and for others.
Thus, taking steps out of your comfort zone does not need to be big at all. Important is that you keep on making these steps. There will be a point where you already did a lot and feel comfortable. This is that moment where you feel like you did enough. The thing about this is that you are starting to go into your older pattern, which is not as exciting. So, keep up with the things you do and try new things out. Stay disciplined to make choices out of your comfort zone, do not let that inner voice tell you have had made enough steps. The pain of regret is far greater than the pain of discipline, and you do not want that. So make these choices :)
