How to break out of your Comfort Zone

Whether you want to be rewarded at your job, be successful on your own, improve your financial situation, or just feel like you accomplished something, the key is to break out of your Comfort Zone. Even if what you are doing works for you, a little effort to try something new could result in a better outcome. If you keep doing only what’s ordinary, your results will continue to be just as ordinary. The only solution is to start doing something extra-ordinary.

But just like any move against human nature, this doesn’t come naturally. Here are some hints for making the transition easier and, well, more comfortable:

• Educate yourself. Find out how other people achieve what you want to achieve with a high level of success. Research your tasks as much as possible, reading case studies, books, and blogs. Find guides that provide step-by-step instructions for the task outside your Comfort Zone that you wish to accomplish. Keep coming back to your resources throughout the entire process.
• Team up. The internet is your friend, but nothing beats spending some time in personal conversation with someone whose path you’d like to emulate. If your goal is to stop buying dinner out and start cooking every day, reading recipes will only get you so far. Have an expert help you by giving you hands-on experience under the watchful eye of a personal guide. For whatever you want to achieve, find a class that lets you participate while working with classmates, most of whom could be in the same situation as you. There is safety — and comfort — in numbers.
• Create a plan. Writing down a challenge, whether just in a notebook kept in your night stand or on a blog public to the world, makes it real. I believe the more public, the better. I’m accountable to the world, not just myself. This brings extra pressure, but motivation as well.) While writing, break your goal into at least three measurable accomplishments, and break those accomplishments into at least three tasks. This is your roadmap. For example, running a 5K is outside the Comfort Zone of many couch potatoes. In this case, a plan has been created for you. All you have to do is follow it.
• Take small steps. Like the first step of a couch potato on the way to her first 5K, the first step is always the most difficult. Any task that seems daunting can be broken down into smaller steps. Eventually, your series of small steps becomes your path to the goal. Some people can make the change they want in one leap once they decide to tackle the obstacle, but that’s not the right choice for everyone. In general, small steps result in success because a slow process helps to reinforce and internalize the experience — building gradual comfort.
• Breed a new comfort. As make slow progress through a series of tasks or through repetition, you’re actually e-x-p-a-n-d-i-n-g your Comfort Zone. That which you never would have considered doing is now something you might do without a second thought. You may find yourself looking for more and ready to make some new plans once comfort sets in. 

By breaking out of your Comfort Zone, you’re opening your mind to new experiences, so it’s natural for your goals and desires to change along the way.

An investing newbie whose goal was to familiarize herself with the stock market may have such a great experience after the first Comfort Zone breach that she may be inspired to become a financial planner and to help others achieve their financial goals. The factory worker who quits his job to run his own business may achieve personal success which inspires him to meet new people including his future wife.

The rewards for escaping your Comfort Zone are limitless. The rewards for never expanding your experience are well-defined: more of the same.

Live Life #VoxxLife Strong