Think of your comfort zone as things that you can do effectively without much thought or fear.
The benefit of having a larger comfort zone could simply be stated as a more effective or fulfilling life.
For a lot of people, the zone directly outside of their comfort zone is their anxiety zone.
Visualize in your mind two circles, one inside the other. Let's label the inside circle your comfort zone and the outside circle your anxiety zone.
The key to moving outside of your comfort zone is realizing that there is actually a third circle. We'll call that circle your learning zone.
So how do we create this learning zone and then turn it into a comfort zone?
It takes courage to step out of your comfort zone, but it's good to think about courage not as a lack of fear, but as the ability to move forward despite your fear. Most people can't make fear go away, nor should they. Fear is an emption we need to survive. So how do we have courage and move forward despite our fear.
Stepping out of your comfort zone requires you to take risk, but that risk can be minimized if you follow a method of making success more likely while avoiding rash, unproductive, or irrational behavior.
One such process involves setting goals; determining the importance of achieving the goal; weighing risks against benefits; selecting the proper time for action; developing a plan; and developing contingency plans.
Setting Goals
What does success look like in this high-risk situation? Is it obtainable? Your goals should be reasonably within reach, not pie-in-the-sky ambitions. Having your goal is key, because it is the reward at the end of the journey. As you go through this journey of getting out of your comfort zone, focusing on your goal is what will get you through it if you start to waiver.
Is your goal Import
Just how important is it that you achieve your goal or goals? If you don’t do something about the current state of affairs, will you suffer? Will you be able to look at yourself in the mirror? Courage is not about squandering effort on low-priority issues. Focusing on fewer but more important things. Pick your battles so to speak, but make sure you don't forego something you will regret later.
Weighing Risks and Benefits
This component focuses on trade-offs. What do you stands to win? What do you stands to lose? What are the chances that your reputation will be tarnished beyond repair if you go forward? Will you lose respect of your friends or peers? Will you miss out on opportunities?
Selecting the Right Time
Although emotion is always in the mix, and may even be an asset when making a courageous move, consider the timing of making the move now or waiting. For your situation consider the art of losing the battle in order to win the war.
Developing a plan
If you have determined the timing is right, the next step is to come up with a plan on how you can move forward.
Developing Contingency Plans
Faced with having to take a risk, most people make only one attempt. The better developed your contingency plans are, the likelier it is you’ll achieve your goals.
Moving out of your comfort zone and into your learning zone often requires being what you haven’t been, thinking as you haven’t thought, and acting as you haven’t acted.
