Today May Be The Right Day To Get Out Of The Comfort Zone
The perfect time to get out of the comfort zone comes when we least expect it and we only need two things: courage and the firm belief that we deserve better. It is a leap of faith, a step that must be taken with a clear mind and a convinced heart, a change that will finally bring us closer to the person we want to be.
We all know that the expression “getting out of the comfort zone” is now ingrained in our vocabulary. It has to do with any scenario, media and daily; in short, there is so much talk about it in the field of personal growth that it is worth clarifying some concepts.
First of all, we could say that we are almost always driven to do it, to change, because change is a positive thing that can enrich us. It helps us to recycle perspectives, to assimilate energy and resources, to be more receptive to all the new opportunities that arise and that, at times, perhaps due to indecision, fear or shyness, we do not dare to indulge.
Advertising, for example, always invites us to try new products, to leave the brand we are used to for a better one. Other times, when we tell someone “I don’t know what to do, my boyfriend asked me to move in together”, that person might say “Do it, go for it, it’s time to get out of your comfort zone.”
One thing we should all be aware of about the term “comfort zone” is that it cannot be used lightly. Originally, the theory of this concept was based on essential principles that are often forgotten today. Each of us should know each other thoroughly to know when and how to take this leap. Because the last thing we want is for this leap to be in the void, in free fall. We must, therefore, find the perfect moment, the ideal moment …
The comfort zone, a space where the temperature is perfect
They sold us the classic idea that beautiful and magical things are out of the comfort zone. Now, this sentence has important nuances: magic is within each of us and well-being is in the place that identifies us, that makes us happy, that satisfies us. Therefore, sometimes it will be almost mandatory to climb the walls of everyday life that surrounds us to find something new, something that corresponds to what we really need.
Other times, however, this comfortable area gives us just what we need, no more, no less, and that’s how we build our happiness. In any case, to better understand the expression “comfort zone” it will be useful to understand its origin and theories.
In the 1980s, a group of scientists conducted research on the climatic conditions in which humans can work without feeling cold or hot. They established that there is a comfort zone between 20 and 24 degrees.
Subsequently, in 1991, a text on business management was published entitled Danger in the Comfort Zone (“Danger in the Comfort Zone”) whose author, Judith M. Bardwick, made use of this expression of a scientific nature also in the context of of personal growth, thus defining the comfort zone as the state in which people act and live with a level of anxiety equal to zero.
At this point, what happens when your anxiety is so low? People are not innovative, they are not creative, they have no stimuli, they find themselves in a condition whereby the control over the surrounding environment is so high that it does not generate anything new, nothing original.
In 2009, psychologist Robert Yerkes delved into the topic by talking about the “zone of maximum performance”. This is an area where, thanks to a small amount of anxiety and stress, people improve their performance. This minimum degree of excitement pushes people to find alternatives, to resort to a more innovative, more creative thought, to feel truly satisfied, but always having a “certain” feeling of control.
It is necessary to remember an important detail: leaps of faith, without a parachute and with closed eyes, do not always have a positive outcome. Because sometimes, exiting the comfort zone too impetuously means entering directly into the danger zone, where you lose the reins of control and exceed the maximum performance zone, the point from which we should all start.
I alone choose how and when to get out of my comfort zone
The phrase “Go out and take the risk, leave your comfort zone” is almost a liberal cry that urges us to leave a known scenario to convince us of the idea that we will achieve success. However, very often we are forced to do this and not only to achieve success, but also to survive. The boy who leaves his parents’ home to go to work abroad, for example, does not always do so out of anxiety to “experiment”, sometimes it is an obligatory exile to have better life opportunities.
The person who leaves the partner after 10 or 20 years of living together does not do it for “success”, but to be happy again, to rediscover himself and his dignity. Despite the advice of the many gurus who are popular nowadays and who say that we “settle down” too much in our comfort zone, we must keep in mind that changes are not to be taken lightly. Change is under way because there is a concrete, clear and objective need: dissatisfaction, unhappiness, existential emptiness, apathy, malaise. ..
In conclusion, it is important not to forget that we must not change just to change, it is not a fashion, no one can tell us to take this leap, this change. Only we can open the gates of our comfort zone to search for what we need, only we can decide when, at what time: when we will feel stronger and will be able to laugh in the face of fear.
Images courtesy of Anne Soline
