The Reasons Your Comfort Zone Is Holding You Back

“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)

Eating the same foods every day, going to work at the same place you’ve always worked, or spending your day keeping to yourself at work are all forms of comfort zones.

Every individual has a different idea of what they are comfortable with. We do the same routine, eat the same foods, and keep the same people around us in order to feel comfortable.

Our comfort zone is like our home. It’s where things are familiar, restful, and normal.

The comfort zone, as defined by the Cambridge Dictionary means “a situation in which you feel comfortable and in which your ability and determination are not being tested.”

You feel relaxed and calm in your comfort zone.

We often don’t get out of our comfort zone unless we’re forced into a new situation, like a promotion at your job that causes you to speak in front of others, or you’re forced to face new situations because of health issues.

The truth is, most of us won’t step out of our comfort zones, even for a small step, unless we’re forced to.

But did you know that by staying in our comfort zone, we are keeping ourselves from growing, both personally and professionally.

In fact, when you step out of your comfort zone you are inspired to do it more often. This “facing your fear” helps you grow more confident in your abilities.

Stepping out of your comfort zone isn’t easy and you’ll have to find ways to push yourself. You’ll want to set yourself up for success when you do. If not, a wrong turn out of your comfort zone can lead you to never trying again.

But you can’t let fear rule you either. You have to find a balance.

Before you take that leap, you need to know why and how your comfort zone is restricting you and to learn if you are stuck in hiding in your comfort zone.

I’ll explore that in this article, along with the benefits of facing your fear, ways to get out of your comfort zone, and how to leave it in the past.

Ready to push forward? Let’s get started.

Your Comfort Zone Keeps You Small

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

You might not have really thought about how having a regular routine of how you do things is keeping you from growing personally and professionally.

After all, aren’t routines good for being productive towards your goals?

Not necessarily.

Our comfort zone keeps us from growing and changing. It holds us back from going after our big scary goals. Staying where we are comfortable keeps us from enjoying all the wonderful experiences in the world.

By staying in our comfort zone, we miss out on opportunities that stretch and strengthen us.

For example, compare being in your comfort zone to lifting weights.

At first, your muscles ache from lifting the weight. But as you continue to lift, your muscles grow stronger.

And the same is true with your weaker skills – with training, they grow stronger.

For instance, maybe you’re an introvert who is great at organizing and has a keen eye for detail.

But as part of your job, you need to recruit others.

Instead of doing all the work yourself, you instead step out of your comfort zone and learn how to sell to others.

This may scare you, but your skills will grow and expand as you learn.

Your comfort zone has a way of keeping you from advancing in your career, your goals and in life.

When you strengthen your skills, it helps you to be better prepared to achieve your goals.

And having bettered yourself, you open the door for new opportunities for advancement. You’re no longer limited or passed over because you were afraid to go for the skills needed.

For example, you’ve been practising your public speaking skills. You’ve put in hours practising in front of others. Now you’re ready to give your talk to potential clients. If you stay in your comfort zone, you won’t gain ground on reaching your goals.

Staying in your comfort zone keeps you from having fun.

Of course, you can always binge watch Netflix or scroll through social media. But after a while that can be extremely boring.

Stepping out of your comfort zone keeps your life from becoming dull. Outside of your comfort zone, you can find many ways to find excitement. If it’s scary to jump into a sport, start small with something fun that isn’t as scary.

The thing is, you don’t know what you’re missing until you step out and try.

Sometimes embarrassment can keep you in your comfort zone. We’re afraid of looking foolish for doing something, because we are too preoccupied with what others, even total strangers, think of us.

And this keeps us from doing things we enjoy or might want to pursue.

Living in your comfort zone robs you of growth and new experiences that keep your life exciting, fun and worth living. It keeps you from growing personally and advancing in your career and life.

Signs You are Stuck In Your Comfort Zone

As I’ve said, your comfort zone is a space we’ve created ourselves over the years.

We don’t realize we’ve become trapped in the space because we’ve become so accustomed to the way we do things and our lifestyle.

It keeps us from realizing how we’ve been limiting our possibility to grow.

Here are six signs that indicate you need to leave your comfort zone:

1. You’ve done things the same way for years, having the same routine for everything you do.
2. You fight against new ideas that don’t fit into your current structured system.
3. You’re very unmotivated to start or plan any new projects.
4. You are afraid to take risks, preferring to let good opportunities to pass you up.
5. You use the excuse that you will lose more than you will gain.
6. You aren’t learning anything new that makes a difference in your life.

Benefits Of Stretching Your Comfort Zone

“The greatest things in life tend to happen outside our comfort zones and doubting your ability to step outside of your comfort zone will keep you stuck.” (Amy Morin)

Being in your comfort zone helps you to get things done and feel safe, but there are benefits to stretching outside your comfort zone as well.

Here are nine reasons you should step out of feeling safe:

1. Being outside your comfort zone can help decrease the chances of you becoming bored. Following the same routine can be dull and drag. But by trying new experiences or situations, you can have a feeling of satisfaction and excitement.
2. When you do the same things repeatedly, you and your situation won’t change. By stepping out of your comfort zone and having new experiences, you increase your chances for growing stronger and changing things. You’ll see positive personal growth in many ways.
3. You’ll be more productive. The anxiety that comes from deadlines and expectations prompts us to do our best. Our comfort zone leads to mediocrity as a way to content ourselves. We pretend we are too busy so that we can stay in our comfort zone and allow us to avoid doing new things.
4. It helps you become more adaptive and become self-reliant. Constantly doing the same thing every day keeps you from being able to easily adapt when your routine is disrupted somehow. But by regularly stepping outside of your routine, you’ll find it easier to react when unexpected things happen.
5. Leaving your comfort zone helps you gain self-confidence. When you achieve your goals by facing the scary things outside your comfort zone, it gives you a feeling of empowerment. Dealing with situations that scare us makes us stronger than we believed we were. As we overcome obstacles, as well, we are gaining skills that we can add to our tool kit for the rest of our life.
6. It helps lower your risk of developing depression. Stepping outside your comfort zone helps you cope with the uncomfortable challenges of life that cause stress, anxiety, and depression.
7. It helps you to perform better at what you attempt. Even though getting out of your comfort zone can cause anxiety, it’s actually a good thing. Moderate stress is associated with boosting your performance.
8. Your mind is often set on autopilot as you go through your normal routine. You are comfortable so you don’t have to think about it. Stepping outside your comfort zone challenges you to think spontaneously, which leads you to be your most creative.
9. Leaving your comfort zone helps you to age gracefully. It helps you preserve cognitive abilities, by keeping the mind active and engaged. Facing new challenges stimulates both the mental and social self.

Once you begin stepping into the zone outside of your comfort, you’ll begin to see and feel the benefits of how it can change your life.

When To Push The Boundary

“A ship is always safe at the shore, but that’s not what it’s built for.” (Albert Einstein and/or John Shedd)

There are methods and strategies you can use to help you decide when and where you should be pushing your comfort zone boundary so you can grow.

Fear is the main thing that keeps us in our safe area, but by pushing against our boundaries in strategic ways, it becomes easier each time we attempt it.

Use these tactics to help you:

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