The following quotes are a nice introduction to this post on comfort zone challenges.
Everything you’ve ever wanted is just outside of your comfort zone.
Great things never come from comfort zones
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone
In this post, we’ll begin by looking at what a comfort zone is. Then we’ll see what the benefits of getting outside of your comfort zone are. Finally, I’ll provide 10 comfort zone challenges that scale in difficulty. These will help you to gradually expand your comfort zone and grow as a person.
What Is Your Comfort Zone?
Your comfort zone is metaphorical. It is an area that contains all of the activities that you are comfortable doing. These are often things that you do daily or have done many times in the past. Things that you’re not afraid to do. Activities inside of your comfort zone are things you’re happy or comfortable doing.
Some examples of comfort zone activities include:
- Going to the shop
- Getting dressed
- Brushing your teeth
- Playing video games
- Watching a film
As you revisit new activities, they transition from outside of your comfort zone to inside of your comfort zone.
A good example is with driving a car. The first time you drive a car, you are/were probably nervous or scared. But each time you get in the car for a driving lesson, that discomfort partly fades away. You gain knowledge of, and exposure to, driving. Over time, this results in driving transitioning into your comfort zone.
Many people compare the comfort zone to a muscle. Both grow over time through repeated exposure to challenges, progressing in difficulty. As you build a muscle, previous weights become easier to lift. As you grow your comfort zone, previous challenges become easier. To continue to grow requires more difficult challenges or heavier weights.
Like with a muscle, if you don’t revisit difficult activities often enough, your comfort zone will shrink. Muscles suffer from atrophy if unused for extended periods of time. To maintain a larger comfort zone and the confidence that comes with it, you must do regular comfort zone challenges.
What Are The Benefits Of Leaving Your Comfort Zone?
The main benefit is personal growth. Every time you leave your comfort zone, you experience new things. You put yourself in a position where you are open and vulnerable. Being in such a position can do amazing things for both your personal growth and your confidence.
When you put yourself in situations like this, you’ll realise that things aren’t as scary as they seem. You’ll learn that you can do certain things, as long as you try.
As you do more comfort zone challenges, you’ll begin to collect ‘wins’. Each time you go to do a new comfort zone challenge, you can use these wins as motivation. Use them to overcome fear and hesitation. “I did X, so I can easily do Y!”
For example, approaching members of the opposite sex in public. The more you do this, the less scary it becomes. Each successful approach is a win, which can fuel future approaches. Every approach makes the next approach less scary. Of course, there will always be some element of fear. But, the more comfort zone challenges you complete, the more confident you’ll become.
You Get To Experience More Of Life
Life begins at the end of your comfort zone
This quote is very true and applicable to comfort zone challenges. A lot of the more ‘natural’ comfort zone challenges that occur in daily life allow you to experience more of life. These are unlike comfort zone challenges you create for yourself, such as lying on the floor in a public place. Natural challenges often lead to unique experiences, stories, and outcomes which you may have never known.
You might be travelling one day and the opportunity arises to do a comfort zone challenge, such as skydiving or bungee jumping. These are activities that exist outside of most people’s comfort zones.
But being able to say yes and being able to follow through on these challenges will offer amazing experiences. It brings you more of life. More joy, more excitement, more energy, more happiness, and loads of other positive emotions. All because you said yes and left your comfort zone.
That’s where life begins. You get to experience something you previously might not have. On top of that, you gain something to talk about. You can share this experience with others to allow them to also feel your positive emotions.
Doing a comfort zone challenge with another person can act as a bonding experience. If you jump out of a plane with someone you recently met, your friendship will blossom.
10 Comfort Zone Challenges
Now for the fun part. Here are 10 comfort zone challenges, scaling in difficulty.
- Switch web browsers for a day
- Go to the cinema alone / do a traditionally shared activity alone
- Wake up early to watch the sunrise
- Sleep on the floor for a night
- Buy food for a homeless person and talk to them while eating
- Do some volunteering
- Take cold showers for a week
- Say yes/no to everything for a day. See where it takes you!
- Do a dopamine fast or a digital detox
- Do a meditation retreat
If you want to learn more about these challenges and 40+ more, consider checking out this short ebook I wrote.
Wrapping Up
Comfort Zone Challenges are awesome. They allow you to experience more of life, presenting unique opportunities. They help you to grow in confidence and generally provide more life satisfaction.
Thanks for reading.
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