There is a danger to Comfort Zones. As with anything good for you, it's possible to overindulge, creating too much of a good thing. Think about the last time you worked out and took things too far. It wasn't fun gasping for breath and feeling like you'd just been hit by a truck. It's even possible to make yourself sick drinking too much water. It’s easy to overdo and become too comfortable, to the point where the Comfort Zone is doing more harm than good.

How can you tell when you’ve gone too far?

Life Feels Boring or Even Stagnant

There are no surprises anymore, and you've fallen into a routine where you're doing the same old thing, day in and day out. At first, it was comforting. Now you're just slogging through the day feeling like you're not making progress or doing anything worthwhile. There's no more challenge, and life is looking dull, to the point of being grim.

You’re Not Applying What You’ve Learned

It's so easy to get caught up in research and learning new things. There's so much to discover in the world! But what are you doing with all this information? If you've reached the point of learning just to learn new things, that's okay. It's good to be excited about education. The danger lies in using education as a means of procrastination. Are you putting off-putting this new knowledge to work? This would be like reading a hundred books on how to write a novel without ever trying to write a book yourself. This isn't just a waste of your education. You're holding yourself back, keeping yourself from finding out what you can do by applying the knowledge you've gained.

You’re Dreaming but Not Doing

It's fun to plan and make lists, blueprints, and goals for everything you want to do with your life, but this kind of planning does no good if you're never trying to reach those goals. You've been in the comfort zone too long if you're all idea and no action. At some point, you absolutely have to get out and try.

You’ve Been on Break a Really Long Time

The life of leisure sounds good, but it does begin to grow old fairly quickly. Sure, your body loves when you’re taking proper care of yourself, but too much lazing around can start doing you more harm than good. Muscles that aren't put to work tend to decondition. This goes for mental acuity as well as physical prowess. If you take too much time off, you’ll have a harder time making decisions. Nor will you have the stamina to face physical challenges. For the best use of the Comfort Zone, get your rest and recharge. Act once you’ve restored your energy.

You’ve Lost Your Flexibility

It can feel good to have everything under control. But what happens if something unexpected comes up? If you're used to things being a certain way, you'll find it's suddenly a lot harder to be flexible in accepting sudden change or dealing with a crisis. You lose your knack for managing uncertain conditions and immediately jump to a stress response when things are outside your control.

You’re Being Held Back

Finally, the Comfort Zone is perfect for the status quo, but it doesn't help you move forward in your career or goals. You can't possibly win the day when you're sitting still, only acting reactively to challenges, rather than getting out and hunting down new paths to success, facing your future on your own terms.

Even worse? If you stay too long in your Comfort Zone, it’ll start to shrink down until you find yourself doing less and less. How? Things that were on the border between being comfortable and uncomfortable will eventually become uncomfortable themselves. A Comfort Zone can become a small place to live with enough time.

Now consider this: if you stay too long in one comfort zone, you’ll never discover another. What if you’re missing out on a better comfort zone by not striving through to the next level? Imagine where you could be next!

How to get there?
This is where the Discomfort Zone comes in.

Imagine what your life would be like if you could teach yourself to enjoy a little Discomfort now and again.

No, no one wants to live in the Discomfort Zone 24/7/365. It would become too stressful and a sure recipe for burnout. We really do need downtime now and again, making the Comfort Zone not just a good idea but necessary for good mental health.

But consider looking at time spent in the Discomfort Zone as a challenge, something to conquer, a place where you'll become your best self. After all, it's all these things and more.

Conclusion

In this blog series I started to talk about the Comfort Zone's role and I will continue with what it means to step into Discomfort.

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.