We gravitate naturally towards being comfortable. If you’re offered a chair in a room with multiple open places to sit, you’re probably going to seek out the seat which looks like it will fit your body best, providing not just support but the perfect angle of the back and the right cushioning or support for the spine. You’ll even want the chair in a position where the lighting is good, and you have a clear view.

We like cushions and soft fabrics to the point where an entire billion-dollar industry is based on bed pillows. We want shoes that cushion our feet, food served at the perfect temperature with the coffee neither too hot nor too cold. Even dream jobs are best if they aren’t too demanding but offer just enough intellectual stimulation. You feel adequately challenged and well-satisfied at the end of each day.

We like things to stay the same, so we gravitate toward routines. Days without surprises are easily managed. We even talk about being ‘comfortable’ to say one is financially secure. Comfort is considered the ultimate goal of a life well spent.

It’s also the greatest prison cell you’ll ever devise for yourself.

Comfort is all about staying safe. It is all about things being predictable and life without demands. Comfort can be a very good thing – unless you want to grow and succeed in life. Comfort keeps us where we are, giving us no reason to challenge ourselves, learn new things, or discover what we’re capable of doing.

In this blog series, I will take you into the world of possibility. You’ll find out about comfort zones, why everyone loves them and how they hold you back. I’ll talk about discomfort and the science behind making yourself uncomfortable, and how discomfort can be used to propel yourself toward your goals.

Finally, you’re going to learn a six-step system for making yourself comfortable with discomfort and even using it to springboard yourself into the life you’ve always dreamed of having.

The Comfort Zone

To understand the world of the Discomfort Zone, you have to first have a clear idea of what a Comfort Zone is. In this chapter, we’ll look at a couple of different definitions of this phrase and explore where this idea comes from. We’ll also talk more about why we like Comfort Zones and how damaging it can be to stay too long in your Comfort Zone.

What is the Comfort Zone?

Back in 1991, Judith Bardwick came up with the term “Comfort Zone” when she said:

The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.”

Consider the phrase ‘anxiety neutral.’ This meant that a person in their comfort zone was neither worried nor stressed. When you are in the ‘comfort zone,’ you know precisely where you are, what’s expected of you, and how to accomplish what you need to do. There are no threats or surprises, nor are there unexpected challenges on the horizon. It is, in short, a comfortable place to be.

Since then, the phrase has been used to define everything from the proper temperature of a room to feeling as though you’re doing well in school, scoring reasonably well on your tests, and getting a passing grade without too much effort. A ‘comfort zone’ can be used to talk about music, sports, and job performance. We run in our comfort zone when taking on a marathon and hope to be there financially with just enough money to pay all the bills and still have enough left over for a decent savings plan, retirement fund, and still get to go on vacation twice a year.

At the same time, a comfort zone has no set parameters. What defines your comfort zone is not the same comfort zone your neighbor, co-worker, or spouse enjoys. This happens in part because we all react differently to different situations. One person might feel comfortable with a certain amount of surprises in their day. Another might consider every surprise a threat to their well-being and define their comfort zone as a day with absolutely no surprises.

More commonly, we define a comfort zone by what challenges us. To an extrovert, a large party might feel like walking into their comfort zone. To an introvert, they might not know how large of a gathering will challenge their comfort zone, but they’ll certainly know when they’ve crossed it. Hence the feeling of being unexpectedly overwhelmed when the party is larger than expected.

Conclusion

Because the comfort zone is a mental state, it’s probably easier to figure out your personal comfort zone by how you feel under certain circumstances. When you reach your comfort zone, you quite naturally want to stay there.

Why? What is it about comfort zones which makes us like them so much? Let´s find out in the second part, the next blog.

Getting out of the comfort zone requires self-leadership. I can support you with my 1:1 coaching or my group coaching program. GLOW UP! Here is the link to a free discovery call.

You will achieve more of the things you attempt to achieve. …and that’s success!
Best of luck on your journey. My group coaching GLOW UP! can help you to overcome the success blockers. Reach out to me to learn more.