Today Can Be A Good Day To Take A Dirt Out Of Your Comfort Zone

The perfect moment to step out of your comfort zone comes when you least expect it. And when it comes down to it, you only need two things: courage and a conviction that you deserve better. It is taking a chance, a step that should be taken with a strong mind and a determined heart. It is a change that will eventually bring you closer to the person you truly want to be.

“Getting out of your comfort zone” is a phrase we all know, and it has deep roots in our language. You hear it everywhere. It is so popular in personal growth that we feel the need to clean up some things.

First of all, today it feels like we are pressured to take a step out of our comfort zone all the time. We are pressured to make a change, because change in itself is a positive, rewarding thing. It helps us gain a new perspective. It makes us more receptive to all the beautiful opportunities on the horizon. Opportunities that we sometimes, due to indecision, fear or sinfulness, do not dare to reach for.

Advertisements, for example, constantly invite us to try new products. Leaving our trusted brand for a new, better one. Other times, when we tell someone, ” I do not know what to do, my boyfriend asked me to move in with him,”  there is always someone who reacts with the classic, “do it , it’s time you come get out of your comfort zone. ”

But this term should not be used lightly. In the original theory of the comfort zone, there were some basic, essential principles that we might forget. We really need to know ourselves to be able to decide when and how to take this leap. Because the last thing we want to happen is that this jump of ours ends up being a free fall. Therefore, we must learn to identify the perfect moment to take it on…

Your comfort zone, where everything is fine

We have been sold on the idea that magic grows outside our comfort zone. Now, there are some nuances of this idea. The magic is actually inside you, and you feel good when you are where you need to be. When you are in a place that makes you happy and content. Sometimes you have to climb the walls of your daily, comfortable environment to find something new. Something that fits what we really need.

Instead, other times our comfortable environment gives us exactly what we need. This is how some people build their happiness. To understand the concept of “taking a step out of your comfort zone” a little more, it will be useful to look at the origins. Let’s see where it came from…

The origin of the comfort zone

In the 1980s, researchers examined the range of temperatures people can work in, under optimal conditions and without feeling cold or hot. They discovered that there is a thermal comfort zone that extends from approx. 20 to 24 degrees.

Later, in 1991, a book on business management was published entitled ” Danger in the Comfort Zone”.  Author Judith M. Bardwick used this scientific term and introduced it to personal growth. She defined it as a condition in which people operate with an anxiety level equal to zero.

Now… what happens when the anxiety we experience is so low? You do not innovate, you are not creative, you do not have much incentive. It is an environment where the control we have over our environment is so high that we no longer create anything new.  Nothing original comes from this place of comfort.

In 2009, psychologist Robert Yerkes clarified the concept a bit more and talked about an ” optimal performance range “. This is where a small amount of stress and anxiety helps people to do things better.

The little excitement is what drives us to look for other alternatives and think more creatively. It encourages innovative thinking to make us feel really happy, but always with a certain sense of control.

Therefore, we should remember one important detail: to take a chance and jump without a parachute, with closed eyes, is not always so wise. If you step out of your comfort zone with too much enthusiasm, you can go straight into the danger zone. Here you can easily lose control and exceed that range with optimal performance.

I’m the only one who decides how and when to step out of my comfort zone

Sometimes we are forced out of our comfort zone, not because we are looking for success, but just to survive. The young man who leaves home to work abroad, for example, does not always do so to “experiment”. Sometimes it is a forced exile in search of better opportunities.

A person who leaves his partner after they have been together for 10 or 20 years, does not do it to succeed either. He or she does it to be happy again, to get himself and his dignity back. So, we need to listen to more than just what the so-called gurus who tell us that people are too comfortable have to say.

Let us remember that change should never be taken lightly. Changes have been made because there are concrete, clear, objective needs. The needs can be dissatisfaction, unhappiness, existential emptiness, apathy…

To conclude, just remember that ” changing for the sake of change ” is not what you want. And only you can unlock the doors to your comfort zone to find what you need. You are the one who will choose when. It will be when you feel strongest and manage to get out of the hands of fear.