3 Reasons to Avoid Staying in the Comfort Zone for Too Long
Learning and implementing this can be a real game-changer in the long run
“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 the quote says, stepping outside of your comfort zone is the key to discovering your passion, finding happiness, or even accomplishing your goals.
It’s always easy to do whatever you are comfortable doing. But if you are not where you want to be in your life — then it’s simply because you are stuck inside of your own comfort zone.
So, why do we prefer to be in the comfort zone even though it’s preventing us from reaching our goals? Because doing something from your comfort zone takes little to no effort.
There’s pretty much no mental resistance in your comfort zone. Take driving for example; driving is comfortable for most of us. We drive to work, we drive to the store to buy things, we drive to our house without any hesitation.
Since driving is so easy and we are used to it — our brain subconsciously placed it inside the comfort zone. So, we don’t really think before we do it.
But how about going for a run or doing exercises? — a lot harder, isn’t it? That’s because it takes our effort, our strength. Our brain knows running is a lot harder to do — that’s why it’s outside of our comfort zone.
But if we don’t run or do exercises, it can harm our health. That’s why always staying in the comfort zone for too long can slowly ruin your life. You probably aren’t even realizing its impact. Although in the long run, staying in the comfort zone can be the biggest obstruction to reaching your goal.
Below are the top 3 reasons why you should avoid staying in your comfort zone for too long:
1. You Can’t Learn Much in Your Comfort Zone
It’s simple as that.
If you don’t take risks and get out of your comfort zone, you simply can’t learn what’s outside of your comfort zone. You won’t find the great opportunities that are waiting for you to take if you stay in your comfort zone.
The comfort zone keeps you from trying new things. This prevents you from moving towards your goal.
As long as you’re sitting within your comfort zone, you can’t experience most of what life has to offer to you.
Remember, the only way you’ll ever be able to become more than who you are right now is by experiencing what is outside of your comfort zone.
So, move out from your comfort zone and see how your horizons extend beyond what you’ve always known.
2. You’ll Never Discover New Dreams and Opportunities
Your comfort zone is a foreseeable place where your dreams die.
If you stay within your comfort zone and keep dreaming of a better life, it won’t come true automatically.
Living in your comfort zone is all about doing what is safe and comfortable — the outcome is known to all. You won’t be able to fulfill your dreams let alone discovering new dreams or opportunities.
You have to come out of your comfort zone to achieve new opportunities. If you don’t take risks you can never really understand who you truly are. Taking risks or doing something that scares you will reveal your true desires.
So, jump out of your comfort zone and start taking risks. This will unlock your true self which will result in discovering new opportunities and dreams.
3. Your Comfort Zone Will Shrink the Longer You Stay in It
The most concerning thing about always staying in your comfort zone is — if you don’t do anything about it, then it will shrink. You may ask what does that mean?
This means that if you always remain in the comfortable zone, you will realize that you are uncomfortable even with comfortable things as time progresses. Unless you move at least a little bit beyond the borders of your comfort zone, then it will get smaller and harder to escape.
I think many people have experienced this in their lives whether they are aware of it or not. This happens to me all the time. Like when I’m on a vacation, I don’t really want to do very hard things or anything that will take much effort.
This results in a pathetic feeling — kind of like I’m becoming a blob that doesn’t move or do something that takes effort.
After the vacation is over, I can really feel the shrinking of my comfort zone because I have to start working again — meaning moving out of my comfort zone to give more effort.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that vacation is bad. What I’m saying is that too much of it can make us idle which is very bad.
So, try to avoid staying in the comfort zone for too long — otherwise, this will trigger the shrinking. You need to do things that are outside of the comfort zone to keep the comfort zone large. This way your comfort zone won’t shrink — rather it will grow bigger so you will be more comfortable even with harder works.
The Takeaways
If you want to chase your dreams and if you want to succeed in life then start to stay out of your comfort zone for too long.
It’s quite easy to develop the habit to step outside of your comfort zone with the right effort and some patience. Train yourself every day. Slowly make yourself comfortable with being uncomfortable.
If you start to do something that is out of your comfort zone every day — your comfort zone will start to grow bigger. You will feel more comfortable with more hard tasks and taking more risks.
Just like Eleanor Roosevelt said:
“Do one thing every day that scares you.”
Don’t go too big at first. Take small steps. Remember, if you take the first few small steps, then you’re more likely to take the next steps — even if those are something bigger.
This way you will feel like you’re really moving forward in life rather than sitting in your comfort zone and doing nothing. Good luck.
