A wise buddhist sage once said that you are your own enemy.
Let me rephrase that.
The part of you that loves your comfort zone is your enemy.
That’s the part of you that wishes you didn’t have a constantly changing goal post to be only momentarily happy. That’s the dude that wishes you stayed lazy. He keeps you content with a plateau-ed progress graph and stands in the way of you and YOU 2.0.
Wondering how it is exactly that you become YOU 2.0? Leave your comfort zone.
If you think that’s easier said than done then checkout these 5 ways to leave your comfort zone for good.
Learn a Difficult Skill
Consider this. You have to present in public, but even before you get to the stage, your knees seem to be giving under you.
You’d sooner swallow crushed glass than say hello when taking the elevator with strangers. Yet you need to build your network and grow your personal business.
Speaking up during meetings might help your professional image, but you’re frightened of saying anything stupid.
Situations such as these, which are crucial professionally but horrifying personally, are sadly more common than we’d like to admit to.
Avoidance is a common reaction to these circumstances. Because after all, if you don’t absolutely have to, why voluntarily place yourself in a situation to be anxious?
Truth be told, everything worth doing will feel difficult when you’re just starting out.
So when does anything complicated start coming naturally to you? When you practise it over and over again. That’s when you make peace with ducking out of the scene for a few hours every day and investing the time to hone your skill or craft.
Perhaps you’ve always admired it when people say they can play a certain sport, swim or strum a musical instrument but you’ve never gotten around to it yourself.
Or perhaps, what’s more difficult for you is mastering time management, being a good listener or going to sleep on time. Whatever it may be, that is difficult to you, take this as a sign to learn to do efficiently. It is one surefire way of expanding your comfort zone.
Be a Yes Man
Nothing ventured is nothing gained.
If nothing else, being a yes man will bring you experiences of highs and lows. You’ll live life in the full spectrum of emotions.
Being a yes man, even when you have absolutely zero idea of what you might be getting yourself into is like going knocking on every door life presents to you. It helps you put yourself out there.
It gives the world a chance to formulate an opinion of you and then you let it bounce it off you. That alone makes you braver than 80% of people that exist in the world.
The matter of fact is, stepping out of your comfort zone and into the unknown requires guts.
There’s no way to know what might happen because there’s nothing to build on without previous experiences. This might make you feel anxious. Nevertheless, persevere through it long enough, and you’ll easily acquire new skills to deal with challenges more resourcefully than your peers in the future.
Being a yes man means you actively take charge of your life and expose yourself to learning experiences in life.
After each learning period in life, a brand new comfort zone comes into existence, enhancing one’s ability to climb to greater heights.
Find a New Hobby
Expanding your skillset may help you be more creative, boost your self-confidence, and improve your employability.
For many individuals, developing skills such as public speaking, negotiating, and leadership may be a daunting task. Investing in them may help one develop resilience, personal fulfillment, and expand their horizons.
There isn’t much motivation for people to push themselves to new levels of performance while they’re in their comfort zone.
When you go about your daily routine without taking any risks, it leads to your mindset becoming stagnate and you become set in your old ways.
When you discover a new activity to master, it allows you to break free from your rut and raise your progress graph once again.
Volunteer
Volunteering may help you look at the old world with a fresh new perception as well as lead you to a variety of exciting locations.
From camping beneath the stars to working on animal conservation projects to confronting the harsh reality of life for the poor who live just 3 stops away from your home–volunteering can jolt you back to life.
And make you pay attention.
Eventually, whether volunteering becomes a regular part of your life or just a one-time experiment outside of your comfort zone, you will certainly learn something new.
Learning can not only stimulate creativity, but it also aids in increasing our knowledge and perspective of the world, as well as providing us with a feeling of success and pride.
Take Baby Steps
Don’t attempt to push yourself beyond your comfort zone in one go; you’ll quickly get overwhelmed and retreat.
Instead, make modest efforts in the direction of the fear you’re attempting to conquer.
If you wish to conquer your fear of public speaking, start by speaking to small groups of people whenever possible. You may only practise with family and friends in the beginning.
Small steps towards big goals helps break them down into achievable milestones that one can work towards every day. It eliminates the risk of getting overwhelmed and quitting on the big picture.
This is how you can chunk away at your huge pile of entrepreneurial dreams rather than stare at the mountain and dwarf in fear.
Remember, when you abandon your comfort zone, you disrupt the plateau of learning and progress that your life has existed on for a long time. In due time, success is inevitable.