Zones of Comfort

The comfort zone is a state of mind in which one feels familiar, safe and at ease.  Change begins when you step out of your comfort zone.  This concept was touched upon in a course I recently took.   The presenter, a therapist, spent a good amount of time describing situations he’s seeing in his practice related to fear and anxiety.  Fear motivates us to escape situations when we find ourselves in them or teaches us to avoid and not get into those situations in the future.

My Happiness Redefined blog post talks about the primitive brain and how it helped humans survive hundreds of thousands of years ago.  The mind’s job was to look out for anything that could cause harm and make sure to avoid it.  Our minds were incredibly helpful at anticipating and avoiding danger.  Our prehistoric or lizard brains can get in the way of our contemporary lives.  In modern culture, we often feel fear and want to escape or avoid situations. Running away from a work presentation or not opening credit card bills doesn’t help the situation.  In most cases, avoidance makes things worse.  Work gets more stressful, the bank adds late charges to the credit card bill and the fears that we’re trying to escape or avoid only get bigger.

In most cases, avoidance makes things worse.  Work gets more stressful, the bank adds late charges to the credit card bill and the fears that we’re trying to escape or avoid only get bigger.

The Zones of Comfort is a tool that can help people lean into their fears rather than barrel through them.  It works like this: first, identify a fear (i.e. I’m afraid to go to the gym).  Rather than facing that fear head on, you take a more gradual approach. If it’s too scary to go to the gym then that is a zone of extreme discomfort.  Identify small steps that are in the zone of comfort or mild discomfort first.  Perhaps looking at gyms on the internet is a zone of comfort and making a call to the gym for an appointment is in the zone of mild discomfort. At first, don’t do anything except what is in the zone of comfort. After that is successfully accomplished, move into the area of mild discomfort.  Helping people lean into their fears and not barrel through them is an approach that helps move people forward.  “It’s only after you’ve stepped outside your comfort zone that you begin to change, grow, and transform.”― Roy T. Bennett

Reflection: Is there something you’ve been avoiding or afraid to do?  When is the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone?

Action: Identify a fear and use the Zones of Comfort tool to help you lean into the discomfort gently.  Celebrate the small steps you take as you move toward your next zone of discomfort.  

Tool:  Zones of Comfort

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