“Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new.”
Brian Tracy
Success is found beyond our comfort zone. We know this and yet we often find it difficult to take the step. It’s not easy, we want to feel ready before we do it, but this works as a contradiction. It’s like not wanting to exercise until you have strong muscles; what you need to do is exercise to make your muscles strong.
The analogy works for stepping out of our comfort zone. We are waiting to have the strength to take action, but it’s taking action that builds our strength. At the same time, we want to make the process as painless as possible by reducing anxiety and taking small calculated risks. Below are three easy steps to successfully get out of our comfort zone.
Rediscover your motivation.
We all have a vision of who we want to be and what we want to achieve. It is this vision that pushes us forward and gives us courage to take risks. The motivation we get from our vision has taken us this far, but the feeling lost some of its strength in the way. We became comfortable and settled for whats good instead of pushing for greatness.
We need our vision to be strong again. So I invite you , dream once more, revisit your grand vision, remember the person you want to be, the experiences you want to have, and the people you want to be around. By going back to your vision you’ll find the drive and passion to take the first step out of your comfort zone.
Manage risk
We resist leaving our comfort zone because there are risks involved. Things might go wrong and we are afraid of the negative “what ifs”. To overcome this fear and minimise potential problems we must manage these risks.
First, find out what are the real risks. What are the worst case scenarios of taking a small step out of your comfort zone? Once you know this, spend some time thinking of ways you could minimise them. Finally, have an action plan in case things do go wrong.
This three step risk management strategy -Identify, minimise, prepare- will help you reduce the anxiety of taking action.
Start small and correct as you go
There is magic in taking the first step. It’s time you stop thinking about leaving your comfort zone and take action.
We tend to wait until we are certain before we move forward. Some of us fall into the category of eternal planners, we won’t make a move until we have thought out every possibility. It’s very unlikely that we will ever finish this perfect plan so we end up never making a move.
You don’t need to know every detail, you can always course correct after you’ve taken action. It is more valuable to be pushing forward, making mistakes and then course correcting than to stand in the sidelines motionless. This is what high achiever do, they get started even if they aren’t entirely prepared and make corrections as they go. What they don’t accept is not trying.
