Yvette Salvaris
We have all heard the saying that the magic starts once you get out of your comfort zone, however its not that easy. Doing something different can be frightening. The fear of the unknown can make you feel uneasy and uncomfortable, especially if you have had the same routine or have been doing the same thing for a long time. It is natural to want to feel safe, however to grow as a person you need to take some risk in order to know what your fully capable of doing.
Your brain is wired to always be in survival mode. We as humans are living in a world where we have to be ready for action. Our brains are built to help us look for danger and find ways to avoid it. Your brain wants to keep you safe. As a result, if you are presented with options that seem unnatural or different you what your use to, you instinctively start to feel anxious and scared. Its like jumping into the deep end of a pool without knowing exactly how deep it is.
Your brain craves routine. It does this to keep you safe. By doing the same thing over and over again you get into a comfortable routine. Its safe and its predictable. However its not helping you grow as a person. When you decide to take on a risk. That’s when your brain switches to evaluation mode. You evaluate the possibilities of what might happen. The good stuff and the bad stuff. When you take a risk on purpose you have evaluated all the good and bad and decide to go with it anyway.
There is such a thing as good stress. Good stress makes you leap into action. Believe it or not jumping out of your comfort zone creates a type of stress that can be beneficial for you. When you have to work on something that is new your brain leaps into action. You become more focused, more creative. You suddenly have a drive and passion to achieve something. You are shifting your focuses from what you know to what you don’t know.
Imagine this scenario, you have been going to the gym for 6 months and you have been doing the same fitness routine for the whole duration. Sure to start with you enjoyed it, you may have even noticed some changes in your body and mind. But after 6 months of the same exercises, you are going to get bored. Your body is going to get use to it, and you are not going to improve. Sure, the gym routine is safe, but it can get dull and boring. Same can be said for not stepping out of your comfort zone.
There is no better way to grow as a person. To have an opportunity to discover what your truly capable of can be a remarkable feeling. Of course, you need to weigh up the pros and cons, but you may be surprised that taking a leap of faith may not be that bad after all. Even of you fail, you still can learn a lot from what went wrong and use that to your advantage.
Don’t jump in too fast. The best way to tackle a new opportunity is by taking baby steps. Start off slow by investigating the opportunity from all angles. Think about what could go wrong as well as what could go right. Take the time to set milestones that are achievable. Aim for each one and tick them off your list. Then go for it, jump in and see what happens. Challenge your self to achieve something amazing. The sense of achievement will make you feel alive and give you a bit of an ego boost.
The last few years with the pandemic have been hard on everyone. However you can take the negative and turn it into a positive. I’m sure you have used that down time during lock downs to think of other things to do, but you were too afraid to give it a shot. Well now you know its not so scary to jump out of your comfort zone and give something new a try. You never know what might happen.
