Karen March Counselling & Therapy Services

KAREN MARCH
M.Soc.Sc.(Counselling),
MACA(Professional)

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Last month's blog looked at the nature of the comfort zone and how we can recognise if we've become enmeshed in it. This month, we look at how to step outside your comfort zone.

WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU VENTURE OUTSIDE YOUR PERSONAL COMFORT ZONE

Leaving your comfort zone will involve some sense of risk and anxiety, but as you will find, we don't have to do something drastic to experience a positive gain.

We all know that "comfort" kills productivity. How many of us get more done when we have deadlines? We need a certain sense of unease to be motivated and to push our personal boundaries. It's only then that we may glimpse what we are actually capable of.

Learning to step outside our comfort zone when we choose can prepare us to better deal with the changes that life will undoubtedly bring.

Additionally, the more we practise stepping out of our comfort zone, the easier it gets.

Seeking new experiences, learning new skills and being open to new ideas, inspires and motivates us. It also helps us to reflect on what we know and whether we may need to adapt or change our thinking. We can also avoid "confirmation bias", which is when we pay attention only to information that fits what we already think and believe.

WAYS TO START BREAKING OUT

1. Look at some of the things you do every day without thinking.

Set yourself a mini-goal, changing the way you do something on a day-to-day basis.

Try a different food or recipe in your weekly meals. Take a different route to work one day, or use a different means to get to work e.g. bike, walk, train, share driving. Challenge a particular habit; at dinner time, put some music on instead of the TV. Decide that you are going to change one behaviour at work; for example, instead of eating lunch inside, go for a walk outside and discover somewhere you've never been before.

Note how this small change feels and what you can learn from it.

Don't worry if there are some negatives from making change. Use what you now know and make some adjustments rather than falling immediately back into ways dictated by your old comfort zone.

2. Set yourself a regular experience

Try something new and interesting once a week or once a month. It might be something weird and off-beat, or something more conventional that you've never attempted. It might involve a year-long Latin percussion course or adding a new item to the weekly grocery shop to try. Alternatively you may decide to volunteer in some capacity where you will learn new skills.

3. Try changing the pace at which you do things.

Slowing down can often feel uncomfortable if you are used to making quick decisions and fast responses. Taking more time can give you the opportunity to observe what's going on internally and externally. Slowing down can also allow you to think and come up with alternatives that habitual, automatic reactions do not permit.

4. Take small steps and with each step courage will build.

Remember, you don't have to leave your comfort zone by jumping out with both feet. Even with one foot, you can experience something new. Small change is the building block for bigger change

Trying new things can be difficult. If challenging ourselves was easy, we'd be doing it all the time. Know your own habits and how you formed them. This will give you valuable insight into how you can break them.

5. Have a plan.

Stepping outside your comfort zone is easier if you have a helpful strategy and a clear intention of where you are going. This will give you a sense of control while you step into unchartered territory.

6. Don't compare.

Don't worry about how far someone else may step out of their comfort zone. Comfort and challenge states are entirely individual and may be big or small. What may be challenging for one person is not necessarily so for another. Remember, it is your process, no-one else's.

7. Connect with people who inspire you

Find like-minded people or those who have been in your position and have dared to venture out of their own comfort zone. They will be a source of motivation, inspiration and knowledge for your own journey. They also lead by example and show us that many things are possible.

8. Return to your comfort zone

Your comfort zone is neither a good nor a bad place. In fact it's a perfectly natural state to which most people gravitate.

You cannot stay out of your comfort zone indefinitely. You need to return to it from time to time to process your new experiences.

Your appreciation of the new will remain stronger if you don't allow yourself to become habituated to it. Taking respite in your comfort zone from the stress of change allows you to fully appreciate the richness of your new experience.

9. Mix it up

There is more than one way to challenge yourself. For example, you may have started walking for fitness. Instead of trying to walk faster or longer, why not try walking through a different terrain.

Stepping outside your comfort zone is not just about Extension but also Enrichment.

The experience of stepping outside your comfort zone is not really about how much risk you can subject yourself to. It's more about learning what you are capable of, and building self-confidence in the fact that you can succeed at anything you put your mind to

In the process you may learn to let go of fear of failure, and instead decide that the saying, "nothing ventured, nothing gained" holds true.

Karen March Aldinga Medical Surgery 17 Old Coach Road, Aldinga SA 5173
Mobile: 0409169115 Email: karmar@chariot.net.au

ABN 51440 722 091