How to EXIT the Comfort Zone

Our comfort zone is the safe space in which we feel comfort and control. This space is not limited to the physical sphere, but also includes the psychological area, our attitudes and behaviors. However, this area slows down and limits personal growth and the living of new experiences that provide learning, but stepping outside the comfort zone produces fear and uncertainty that can sometimes paralyze us. If you want to know how to get out of it, keep reading this Psychology-Online article: How to get out of the comfort zone, where you will find 15 exercises to get out of your comfort zone.

Index

1. Get out of your comfort zone
2. Leaving the comfort zone: frequently asked questions
3. 15 exercises to get out of your comfort zone

Comfort zone is a term widely used in everyday life and in informal contexts. In addition, it is the object of research and a concept that is used in the field of psychology. But, What does comfort zone mean?

1. The comfort zone

What is the comfort zone? This concept refers to a mental and behavioral state in which people follow a routine and repeated behavior, strategy and attitude, without assuming any type of risk or change In their lifes. The performance obtained in this area is constant, but it is an area in which learning does not occur, since there is everything that is already known and mastered. It is a personal space in which you act without much awareness and without paying too much attention, with the so-called automatic pilot. The situations are familiar and familiar, so the person knows for sure how to react to them and deal with them. What happens if I step out of the comfort zone? That I enter the learning zone.

2. The learning zone

The so-called learning zone is an area of ​​expansion in which people assume new challenges and challenges, and they experiment in different areas of their life. This space involves personal effort, an initial feeling of insecurity and helplessness, and acceptable levels of anxiety. However, this is where personal growth, learning, the acquisition of new tools and the expansion of knowledge take place. Once the person masters what was new, he becomes part of the comfort zone. However, behind the learning zone is the panic zone.

3. The panic zone

Learning no longer occurs in this area, because the situation exceeds one's own limits and there is a feeling of lack of control that is paralyzing. In this space, very high levels of anxiety and fearThese lead to behavior of flight to the comfort zone again.

If you are considering leaving your comfort zone and do not know how, you may ask yourself the following questions:

What does it mean to get out of the comfort zone? Leaving the comfort zone represents doing new activities, adopting new habits, or pursuing new challenges.

Why don't I want to get out of my comfort zone? In the comfort zone, people experience a sense of control and security. In this environment, uncertainty is minimized and stability is obtained. Despite this, the well-being obtained from this area does not have to come from personal growth and satisfaction, more well it is derived from the absence of emotions such as excess anxiety, fear and an uncertainty and insecurity overflowing.

Why is it so hard to get out of the comfort zone? The resistances that people find to get out of their comfort zone are precisely this fear and uncertainty, together with the feeling of lack of control and disorientation. This comfort area may be safe and provide a kind of refuge, but it is limiting and long-term. can cause apathy, demotivation, boredom, sadness, sense of meaninglessness, passivity and behavior of avoidance. That is why it is necessary to make an effort and leave your own comfort zone from time to time.

Why get out of the comfort zone? The reasons for moving out of your comfort zone into the learning zone are the benefits it brings. For example:

• Increase self-confidence
• Increases the ability to face different problems
• Provides new perspectives and experiences
• Expand knowledge

How to get out of the comfort zone easily? Since it is not always easy to leave our area of ​​safety and control, here are a series of tips and exercises that can help us get out of our comfort zone:

1. Know the limits: If you wonder how to get out of the comfort zone, it is important that leaving the comfort zone does not become an obsession and an excess of pressure. Each person is different and has rhythms that differ from each other, so there are people who could get out of this area through a sudden big change and others that will need to take small steps or changes. Therefore, self-knowledge and analysis of our personality traits and fears is necessary, since it is vital find the balance between anxiety and the positive that derives from this departure from the area in which we find comfort.
2. Do not fall into catastrophism: When planning and planning to get out of the comfort zone, it helps to know that being out of it does not mean never returning to it. The comfort zone is a space that you can always return to if you wish, since the learning zone does not entail the absolute loss of control; responsibility and decision-making power remains with the person.
3. Discover new sites: one of the exercises to get out of the comfort zone is to make a list of places that have not been never gone and cultural or artistic events that take place and try once a week to go to one of they. In this way, the closest but unknown environment is explored.
4. Getting out of style: novelty can be found in a simple way, simply by trying new styles of food, music, genre of books, movies, etc. It can be useful to pay attention and think about what is new that these unknown stimuli have given us.
5. Search company: Doing some activity or change that produces fear and avoidance with another person may be the key to daring to take the step, because it can reduce anxiety and uncertainty. It may be the factor that promotes action.
6. Analyze your own experiences: Another exercise to get out of the comfort zone consists of being aware and doing a mental review of the things that we have learned throughout our lives, as well as remember the feelings and emotions before and after, the benefits and knowledge that were obtained, this can facilitate the decision-making to leave the zone of comfort.
7. Meet people: Exposing yourself to new people is a challenge in itself on many occasions, therefore, it is a good exercise to get out of your comfort zone. In addition, the diversity of people brings different points of view, knowledge and ideas and plans that perhaps you would not have come up with until you maintain contact with that person. Here you will find tips for meeting new people.
8. Spend some time knowing what you want: This implies reflecting on what we would really like to do and analyzing the barriers we encounter and addressing how to overcome them. Once the wish or wishes have been defined, it is advisable to break down this objective into different steps to follow, as it promotes clarification, simplification and its feasibility.
9. Make a hierarchy of fears: Another of the exercises to get out of this area, consists of drawing up a list of actions or activities that cause us from fear and / or mild anxiety to high levels and order them from low to greater anguish. Once done, start the exhibition with those that are least scary.
10. Change routine: It is convenient to spend some time analyzing what routines we do throughout the days, think and write a list of possible alternatives or variations that could be introduced to generate a change in daily life and leave the comfort zone.
11. Find information: sometimes, people can exaggerate and magnify what is unknown to us. Therefore, finding out more and learning about those activities that are scary, can reduce uncertainty, which is one of the factors that blocks leaving the comfort zone.
12. Get prepared: Another of the exercises to get out of the comfort zone is to ask yourself about what is it that could go wrong or be negative when doing what is scary and unsafety. Once identified, think and plan how to address those possibilities. This anticipation helps create a greater sense of control over events.
13. Identify vital areas to improve: This implies analyzing those parts of our life or our own attitudes and behaviors that we would like to change in a positive way. Once the identification is done, brainstorm different alternatives, you can also ask more people to contribute new ideas. Choose those that seem most plausible and put them into practice.
14. Detach: the comfort zone also has a material part and involves all those objects that are not wanted undo a person, even though she does not need it, since it comforts her and in some way makes her feel safety. It is a good exercise to get out of your comfort zone to start reducing these little by little.
15. Go to a professional person: paralysis and blockages in getting out of the comfort zone are common. For this reason, it may be helpful to turn to a professional person who works on self-knowledge, confidence, motivation and help to jointly design an action plan and monitor this. Furthermore, seeking help is itself a big step into the learning zone.

If you are interested in knowing specific exercises for the workplace, you will find them in this article about How to get out of your comfort zone at work. On the other hand, if you are interested in advice especially aimed at the love field, you can read this article about How to get out of the comfort zone in a relationship.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

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• Cajina, G. (2013). Break out of your comfort zone: 52 proposals to take the shops of your life. Espasa Libros.
• Forés Miravalles, A., Sánchez i Valero, J. A., & Sancho Gil, J. M. (2014). Get out of the comfort zone. Dilemmas and challenges in the EHEA. Pedagogical trends.
• Hemmi, M. (2013). You dare to dream? Paidos.