Do you feel that you are stagnating? Are you feeling tired or frustrated about certain elements of your life? Do you want to move forward? If so, here’s how to get out of your comfort zone without panicking.
If you’ve ever tried to get out of your comfort zone without understanding how it works, you may have panicked and simply returned to your comfort, even if it’s uncomfortable.
The comfort zone is not necessarily comfortable.
That’s what happens with the comfort zone: it’s not necessarily comfortable and those who know how to get out of their comfort zone move forward more, faster, and have long-term results.
Getting out of your comfort zone, how does it work?
The comfort zone has three layers:
- Comfort zone
- Learning Zone
- and the magic zone / panic zone
The principle is simple: if you get out of your comfort zone too quickly or too drastically, there is a good chance that you will fall into the panic zone… and return to your comfort zone to regain your safety.
Example
I don’t exercise. I make up my mind and I go 5 days a week. During the 2nd week I only go there 2 times. I tell myself that it was too much for me or I give myself a reason, then I stop. I came back into my comfort zone, safely, but not necessarily doing what I want to do to achieve my goals.
How do you get out of your comfort zone then?
1- Have a motivating goal
What is your goal and what motivates you to achieve your goal?
Take the time to define your goal so that it arouses in you motivation, a positive feeling and a real desire to do it.
Example 1
Losing weight doesn’t motivate anyone. Who is motivated to lose something? 😊
But what if you said: Gain flexibility so that I can play more easily with my child. Oh. More motivating?
Example 2
Deliver a website by a specific deadline. Not everyone is motivated by a date! But if the goal explains the meaning and says for example: To allow our customers to better understand our service offering in order to generate more calls and by doing so, we can achieve our mission which is to help as many people as possible. Oh! More interesting, isn’t it?
It is not mandatory, but generally the most motivating goals create value for you and/or others and/or an organization. That is to say, motivating goals have a meaning for you, or on someone bigger than you.
Coach’s request:
- Write down your goal, and what motivates you to achieve your goal.
- To go further, also write down in advance the obstacles you can anticipate (in other words, what may prevent you from achieving your goal). And create strategies now to counter these obstacles.
This goal will motivate you to take a step towards the learning zone.
2- Follow a clear plan
Plan your work, work your plan.
I don’t know exactly how to translate this expression that I love.
You don’t build a house without a plan. And a plan alone is useless. Actions must follow.
Do the actions have to follow the plan exactly? Not always. But the only way to adapt your plan is to be in action.
Have you ever had a great plan or a nice project definition and then realized, while doing it, that it was much more complex than you thought? Or that you had forgotten steps?
This is normal.
Without action there can be no adaptation.
An effective plan has:
- Milestones in the long term. Whether it’s over 1 year, 2 years, 3 years or even 6 months, 3 months, 1 month.
- Medium-term steps. A rule of thumb is to divide the long term by 3 or 4. So if you have an annual goal, divide it into quarters.
- Short-term tasks. For example, in months or weekdays.
- Subtasks that create deliverables and that can be completed in 2 hours. Yes! Of such a short duration. What for? This is the most important key: in a world where you are busy, stressed and juggling different projects, if when you have a free 2 hours to move forward on a project you have to ask yourself what to work on, you will not move forward and will instead jump on emails, notifications and all the time-sensitive eaters, but not necessarily important.
Coach’s request
- For your purpose, what are the terms (short, medium, long)?
- Then, for each term, what are the important steps?
- In the short term, what are the concrete tasks you need to do, and by when?
- Mark these slots in your calendar now and check in on your progress regularly!
By following a clear plan, you are then exactly in the learning zone. You move forward, you adapt. One step at a time. You measure your progress, know where you are.
If there is panic, it will simply be because a stage was too “big”. Adjust. Ask for help from someone you know, a mentor, a coach, a friend. Having a progression partner is key to helping you move forward on what really matters to you!
If you want to read more articles on setting goals related to time management, here are three: set goals , deliver your vision , and prioritize what’s important versus what’s urgent.
3- Accept not to be perfect
I invite you to adopt the adage: Progression not perfection! And to live it.
I repeat what is stated above: without action there is no adaptation, and I add that without action there is no progression.
If you’re one of those people who is waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect plan, or any other element of perfection, you’ll struggle to take action.
The further you go, the more magic you will discover. Yes! The Magic Zone! It’s the one where you gain confidence and integrate the new.
Example
If you are visiting an unfamiliar country with a different culture and currency than your own. At first you will have trouble understanding it and will make the conversion with your currency with each purchase.
Then as the trip progresses, you will have gotten used to it and will no longer mentally convert the currency every time. Your purchases will be easier because you will have integrated this new notion. Magic! It’s done!
Conclusion: how to get out of your comfort zone without panicking
To get out of your comfort zone, have a motivating goal, create a plan for the short-medium-long term, adapt your plan according to what happens in reality and simply accept that you will not be perfect before you can benefit from the magic of novelty.
Get support to grow with someone who cares about your success.
Stepping out of your comfort zone doesn’t mean you don’t have ambition and can’t do it! Simply, put the odds on your side. Rome was not built in a day 😊