Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone - The Treasures That Lay Within
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
– Muhammad Ali
We all need the courage to face challenges in life - the big ones and the little ones. But where to find this wellspring of courage? I like this advice from the ancient advice of the Indian sage Patanjali, who said,
“When you are inspired by some great purpose, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
Why is it that we put our dreams on hold? We say ‘maybe one day’ and then carry on with our 9 - 5 realities, and place our inspirations on the back burner for some ‘more convenient time’. Or we assume that our dreams are too grand, silly, impossible to orchestrate, or perhaps someone else has already done it. This type of self-sabotage is so subtle yet so common in our society, and it extinguishes the magic of life if we let it take over the power of inspiration.
So, I ask you, what if that very thing that is inspiring you is the step to something beautiful unfolding in your life? Whenever we take a step we cannot see the next step in front of that, we cannot peer into a crystal ball and see the outcome of our actions to receive confirmation of whether we should go for them or not... and so we play this game of doubt and fear in our mind which paralyzes us from acting on the inspired joy that is appearing to us in this very now moment.
If we do this repeatedly - then we may find that we are 80 years old with a list of faded dreams that never got given a chance to bloom because the mind took the reins and threw up a tonne of potential impossibilities that stopped you in your tracks. Reality is, if you followed the inspiration, without any attachment to an outcome you would either reach the image you had, or life would steer you in a different direction which may be even more wonderful, or alternatively teach you something along the way. Whatever the journey, you would find the courage and strength to face it in that precise moment.
The fear of being out of your comfort zone then is really a fear of how you will cope, how you will respond to new challenges and situations rather than the situation itself. This is an important distinction. If you didn’t have the bad-ass ‘inner critic’ ego popping up inside you, you would be fearless and face any new challenge in life with complete clarity – what a thought.
You never know what doors might open from following and acting upon an inspiration. You may meet exactly the right person to help you with your project, or one job that you do right now might not seem like your ideal dream but it gives you the skills for your next opportunity. Life is full of surprises that we will never know of unless we take that first courageous step!
Prepare to Step Outside the Comfort Zone
If the prospect of being outside your comfort zone is looming ahead of you, then prepare yourself:
Firstly attend to the mental side as this creates and feeds emotions.
Do not set expectations but keep an open mind. Be like a child with an attitude of wonder and curiosity.
Don’t let doubtful thoughts chip away at your confidence. Observe them, thank them, and release them. (thanking the thoughts reduces their tendency to repeat)
Use the Buddhist wisdom of having ‘preferences’ rather than ‘attachments’. This means you prefer the situation goes well but do not pin all your happiness on the provision that it turns out the way you want.
Put aside past experiences that you think are an indicator that you may fail, or not rise up to the occasion.
No matter how logically you approach this, all roads lead to the spiritual outlook which says all challenges, difficulties, and situations that take you out of your comfort zone are really an opportunity in disguise. If it doesn’t turn out as you had hoped the experience is still of value because you learned something and gained a new experience.
Advantages of being Outside the Comfort Zone
It is a valuable life skill if you can adapt yourself to not feel threatened by situations out of your comfort zone, but approach them with faith in life's guidance.
Advantages of being out of your comfort zone:
Time slows down because you are absorbing new information and experiences.
You compensate for your inexperience by being more attentive and self-aware.
Your novelty (newbie) focus gets you into full immersion in the experience, (like the saying goes ‘There’s nothing like the ‘first time’’).
You come out of it better in all ways: more resilient, more adaptable, and braver.
It gets less difficult to step out of your comfort zone each time you do it.
You can be proud of yourself because to survive and succeed outside your comfort zone is a victory.
When you step out of your comfort zone you learn and grow in ways you never dreamed of, and uncover hidden treasures of strength, resilience, confidence, unknown skills, etc. Courage is truly a gift to yourself and the world because you bloom and experience your true potential.
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