It is often said that we should get out of our comfort zone in order to grow. It is a popular saying that many people use when they are trying to encourage themselves to take risks and do something new. So, what does it mean to get out of your comfort zone, and how to do it? This blog will give you a detailed idea about it.
Getting out of your comfort zone means doing things that you are not used to doing and being uncomfortable with. According to a quote from “The Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck, “There are two types of people who live in their comfort zones: those who know how life can be better and those who don’t want anything more than what they already have.” If you want to know more detail about it, do not skip this blog. Here we will discuss the meaning of comfort zone and 7 tips on how to get out of your comfort zone, along with ten inspirational quotes.
Comfort Zone Meaning
The comfort zone is the range of situations in which a person feels at ease, competent and confident. It is typically the range of activities where a person’s skills are well-matched to the demands of the environment or task. Furthermore, it is an area with an optimal level of challenge, where one can perform at their best. On the other hand, staying in your comfort zone might be detrimental to your career. Because it will stop your career growth. When a person can not get out of his comfort zone, his growth has been stopped. Therefore he remains in the same position for years after years. So, in order to be successful in your career, you must take risks to step outside of your comfort zone and involve yourself in new challenges.
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How to Get Out of Your Comfort Zone – 7 Tips
People often say you must step outside of your comfort zone to thrive, meaning you have to take risks and do something new to succeed. But getting out of your comfort zone is not easy. It requires courage and confidence as well as enough skills. In order to get out of your comfort zone, you must develop a growth mindset, and professional skills, maintain honesty, challenge your beliefs and change your routine. Here are 7 tips on how to get out of your comfort zone:
1. Develop New Professional Skills
Professional skills are the key to growing your career. When you have enough work skills, you will feel confident to move outside the box and take on any new challenge. Professional skills also help you to achieve your personal career goal, such as a raise in your salary or getting a promotion. Similarly, it will also help in switching your current job and getting a better opportunity.
There are two types of employability skills, e.g. soft skills and hard skills. Soft skills, often called interpersonal skills, include Integrity, Work Ethics, Professionalism, Responsibility, Adaptability, self-motivation, Communication, Decision Making, Teamwork, Multicultural Sensitivity and Awareness etc. On the other hand, hard skills include software development, SEO, MS Office, Graphic Design, Video Editing etc.
2. Challenge Your Beliefs
There is a famous saying that “challenge yourself to change yourself.” It means you must challenge your own will to take on new challenges and achieve something extraordinary. Over the years, we develop a certain belief about ourselves based on our experiences, thoughts and observations. After a certain point, this belief creates a boundary around us and we start feeling that we are incapable of doing anything outside this boundary. Thus comfort zone creates. So, in order to get out of this comfort zone, we must challenge our own beliefs.
Challenging your own belief is tough but not impossible. In order to do so, you must kill your self-limiting beliefs, Learn to listen without judgment, Seek to understand and Argue with the other side. This strategy will help you to challenge your belief.
3. Maintain Honesty
Honesty is essential for developing oneself. You must always be honest, whether to the other person or to yourself. Honesty pushes People out of their comfort zones. If you are straight and honest with yourself, you will realize how you feel about any situation. So you will be able to make the decision whether you stay in it or get out of it.
Practicing honesty is simple. You can practice honesty at work using strategies like Keeping your commitments, Staying focused, Paying attention to your environment, Taking responsibility, Respecting your employees and surrounding yourself with honest people.
4. Change Your Routine
Undoubtedly, having a routine based on good habits can help you to get things done and grow your career. However, if you grow overly reliant on your daily routine, your life will continue in the same direction forever. Therefore, you must infuse some spontaneity into your routine to break out of the route.
Changing your routine is not an easy task. However, you can change your day-to-day routine following these strategies: Realize it, Reduce your screen time, take little steps, schedule self-care, do your least favorite tasks first, read books on developing good habits and Spend 10 Minutes Tidying Up.
5. Develop a Growth Mindset
Mary C. Murphy and Carol S. Dweck discovered two different views on human nature: Growth mindset and fixed mindset. A person who has a growth mindset sees intellect, skills, and talents as something that can be learned and developed with work. However, a person with a fixed mindset believes that those same characteristics are innately constant and unalterable across time. So, if you want to do something outside the box, you must develop a growth mindset, e.g., believe that you can learn new skills, intellect and talents with practice and hard work.
Developing a growth mindset may take time; however, here are some tips that will help you in creating a growth mindset: Identify your current position, explore your motivations for acquiring a development mindset, find examples, change your attitude toward failure, recognize your own limitations and take note of your actions.
6. Start Small
Try not to immediately step outside of your comfort zone. It’s possible that you’ll feel overwhelmed and dive back in. Take baby moves in the direction of the fear you’re attempting to conquer. Leaving behind your comfort zone doesn’t imply you should disregard safety. Progress may be measured in every small step. Therefore, it is acceptable to make both bigger, bolder moves as well as more incremental ones.
For example, if you want to be a singer, it is not possible to start singing in a mega show on the first day. Instead, you should start by taking every opportunity to sing to small groups of people. You can even practice with family and friends.
7. Accept Failure
When you aim to do something outside the box, you may not succeed the first time. Sometimes, we all fail to achieve something that we really wanted and find it hard to cope. However, some people appear to be considerably better than others at getting back up after these events. On the other hand, some people live their entire life in the shadow of their failure. Which is not an ideal thing to do. Therefore, if you want to do something out of the box, you must learn to accept your failure and start new.
10 Inspirational Quotes
“You never change your life until you step out of your comfort zone; change begins at the end of your comfort zone.” – Roy T. Bennett
“As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.” – Robin S. Sharma
“Whenever you feel uncomfortable, instead of retreating back into your old comfort zone, pat yourself on the back and say, “I must be growing,” and continue moving forward.” – T. Harv Eker
“Comfort is your biggest trap and coming out of your comfort zone is your biggest challenge.” – Manoj Arora
“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
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good and go for the great.” – Steve Prefontaine
“Whenever you feel uncomfortable, instead of retreating back into your old comfort zone, pat yourself on the back and say, “I must be growing,” and continue moving forward.” – T. Harv Eker
“Hitting your comfort zone’s boundaries is simply a sign that you’re about to have the chance to grow.“ – Clare Josa
“Don’t let fear make your decisions for you.” – Annette White
“The further you get away from yourself, the more challenging it is. Not to be in your comfort zone is great fun.” – Benedict Cumberbatch