How Do I Get Out of My Comfort Zone?

Getting Stuck and Procrastinating

Have you ever had a goal and found it challenging to get started and take that first inspired action step? Perhaps it has been a vision of weight loss, money, a career change or even a business goal. The good news is that you have been visualizing desired growth and change. The reason people get stuck and procrastinate is typically due to the lack of skill, knowledge, limiting beliefs, and their current self-image doesn’t match the goal achievement. This is very common, and most people prefer to remain in their comfort zone to conserve energy and play it safe. In this post, I will share content that I’m repurposing from Tony Robbins that answers the question, how do I get out of my comfort zone?

Tips for Leaving your Comfort Zone

Accelerate Your Productivity

The human brain is powerful. It allows us to build rocket ships, explore physics and overcome unimaginable challenges. Yet, it also craves comfort. In many ways, the brain is a creature of habit. It creates neural pathways that it refers back to whenever it needs to make a decision. These pathways become patterns in our thoughts and behaviours. That’s why it seems like we get stuck in a rut sometimes. If you feel like your life is on a loop, you may need to leave your comfort zone.

What is the Comfort Zone?
The comfort zone is a psychological state in which individuals feel safe. It fulfills our need for certainty, one of the most powerful Six Human Needs. When we’re in our comfort zone, we know what to expect and we know how to react. We feel that we have some control over the situation. All of our immediate needs are filled, and we feel at peace.

When we leave the comfort zone, we’re no longer in a familiar and controllable situation. The brain hasn’t created the pathways it needs to know how to react – and we may feel anxiety and fear. Yet learning to leave your comfort zone is essential.

Why leave the Comfort Zone?
Living life in your comfort zone has obvious benefits: low stress reduced anxiety, and general feelings of well-being. But it can also make you feel like you’re in a holding pattern. That’s because uncertainty and growth are also human needs. It’s a paradox: Too much certainty, and we won’t fulfill our need for growth and new experiences. But too much uncertainty can lead to anxiety and lack of productivity.

The ability to move out of your comfort zone in regular, positive ways allows you to strike the right balance between certainty and uncertainty. Pushing your boundaries can make you more productive, more adaptable and more creative. As you push your personal boundaries, you train your brain to adapt to new situations and create new neural pathways that make you a better problem-solver, decision-maker and leader. You truly become unstoppable.

How to Leave Your Comfort Zone
To leave the comfort zone, you must learn how to control the natural fear and anxiety you will feel when trying new things. It starts with getting in touch with your emotions and transforming your mindset.

Find Your Baseline
To move out of your comfort zone, you must determine your risk tolerance. Most people think they’re more risk-tolerant than they actually are – and many people don’t actually know their risk tolerance because they’ve never been faced with an extreme situation in which it’s been tested. To find your baseline, determine your driving force. If your number one human need is certainty or connection, you may need to leave your comfort zone more than others.

Master Your Emotions
Those who can easily leave comfort zones may have more emotional mastery than those who stay stuck in routines. This doesn’t mean that they repress their emotions – in fact, they do the exact opposite. They acknowledge that their emotions are there to guide them. They feel their feelings fully and ask themselves, “What is this emotion really telling me?” When you leave your comfort zone, anxiety is normal. It’s telling you that you feel vulnerable. Acknowledge it, then move past it.