The importance of stretching your comfort zone

Do you remember the anxiety of learning to drive?

There was that sheer terror of keeping your eyes on a million things at once, knowing if you lost focus for a nanosecond, you’d cause the biggest accident on the planet ever.

When you hop in your car now, do any of your early concerns even cross your mind?

Of course not, because driving is something you can practically do in your sleep. . .

. . .but please don’t.

Over time, you moved out of one comfort zone into a newly stretched, roomier version.

Sunday Drive or Speed Test

Instead of that move resembling a long, slow, Sunday drive, what if it was more like setting a new land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in a blazing fast race car?

In all likelihood, the thought of crossing that distance in a single, hydrogen-fueled burst sends shivers up your spine.

You may actually prefer edging into that new territory like Grandpa drives, his turn signal going blinka, blinka, blinka, as he slowly turns onto the highway.

It’s ok to go slow

Admit it.

You have poked fun—or worse—at slow drivers.

And yet, when it comes to making changes, you might be the turtle.

You either step forward at your very slow and deliberate pace, or you just pull back into your shell and sit still until the threat of change has passed.

It’s important to go at your own pace, even if it’s slow, because that means you are moving ahead.

But going too slow means you might get stuck 

Sometimes, however, you do need a little push or encouragement to make sure you are continuing to move forward.

Accountability partners, mastermind groups, vision boards, and how-to books can be helpful, plus setting some short-term achievable goals.

Especially important is to give yourself permission to do what works for you and not compare yourself with others.

Remember that comparison is the thief of joy and  the killer of motivation.

Get comfortable with discomfort

One final key to successfully and regularly moving out of your comfort zone is to practice getting comfortable with discomfort.

For example, any time you have learned a new skill or started a new job, you were probably uncomfortable.

Over time, you became comfortable in that new space.

When your diet contains regular small daily doses of comfort zone expansion, you will become more accustomed to the discomfort, i.e., change will become easier.

Additionally, here are a few of the benefits of that change:

Meeting new people

Increasing opportunities

Gaining greater confidence

Being a positive role model for friends, family and others

Becoming a happier, more interesting, capable person

Nurturing a more patient and flexible mind-set, which helps you be a better spouse

Developing more resiliency, since you will no doubt fail at some changes, yet you survive

To get you started, here is a list of small and big ideas that can serve as a stepping off point.

Suggestions for stretching your comfort zone

1. Change up the familiar. Rearrange a room, drive a different way to work, schedule a week’s worth of dinners with new recipes with unfamiliar spices, have a fashion-savvy friend help you pick out a new outfit that is a departure from your norm.

2. Take photos in public. Lie down for a unique vantage point. Yes, on the sidewalk or grass. Yes, this will stretch you. And possibly get you dirty. But your photography will be better for it, and so will you.

3. Speak—and listen—to strangers. I know your mom warned you against this, but I assume you will be smart and safe with whom and what you share, and, no, I will not come and bail you out of jail if it comes to that. Just catch their eye and strike up a conversation. Everyone has stories to share, and you just might be amazed at what you learn.

4. Volunteer. Help out at your area food pantry or animal shelter, spend time in an assisted-living facility, or go on a missions trip here or abroad. Not only will it do your heart good, but your efforts will be deeply appreciated. As author Jeff Goins says, Get Wrecked.

5. Enroll in a financial management class and share something stupid you’ve done. This is a twofer!

6. Write a thank you—email or snail mail—to someone whose writing you enjoyed or found helpful.

7. Enter a writing challenge, even if the words are for your eyes only at first. Lisa-Jo Baker’s Five Minute Friday is a delightfully quick rush, and for something bigger and longer, there’s NaNoWriMo.

8. Join a Toastmasters Club and take the opportunity to get more comfortable with communicating, especially public speaking. You can start small by making dinnertime more engaging with Family TableTopics conversation starter cards.

9. Jump at the chance to learn. Take a class in photography, art, writing, or the sciences, attend a free event at your local college, pick up an instrument and take group lessons. Be sure to sit right up front, ask lots of questions, and share your work, too.

10. Sign up for a radical event. A 5K Mud Run, half or full marathon, or sky diving, mountain climbing, or white water rafting. Stop being a wallflower and start being a doer! My daughter gave me a sky diving gift certificate for Christmas, and we will be going in next month or two. I admit to waffling between sheer exhilaration and stomach-churning fear, but I am going!

To get the most out of life, you need to live with intention.

Stretching your boundaries is part of that.

Learn to embrace the sharpening of your character that comes with those experiences, as well as the discomfort and joy that are a natural by-product of the process.

Be prepared for success, yet understand failure isn’t an indictment. It is just information we can use to get up and keep moving forward.

Now, start your engines, and stretch away! Vroooom, vroooom!

Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there.  ~Will Rogers


Sharing at NOBH, Happy Wives Club, Soli Deo Gloria, Fellowship Fridays

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