Feelgood40plus.com promotes purpose, focus, and motivation. It also promotes stepping out of your comfort zone. I understand that can be challenging for some, especially for individuals who find the concept unsettling or intimidating. Here are 10 steps to embracing discomfort practical ideas to assist you in easing into the process.
'The cost of never taking a risk is spending the rest of your life wishing that you had' Author unknown.
10 Steps to Embracing Discomfort
Start Small
Begin with minor trials that are slightly uncomfortable but manageable. This might be as easy as cooking a new recipe, starting a conversation with a stranger, or mastering a new skill. Small triumphs boost confidence and momentum, making taking on more significant difficulties more straightforward.
Set Clear, Achievable Goals
Define what venturing outside of your comfort zone means to you. Set clear, attainable goals that will test your limits in a controlled way. For example, if public speaking scares you, begin speaking out more in meetings before progressing to more extensive presentations.
Prioritise Learning over Outcomes
Change your mentality to focus on the learning process rather than the end. Accept mistakes and setbacks as part of the growing process. This method alleviates the burden of having to succeed on the first try and provides an opportunity for personal growth.
Visualise Success
Spend some time visualising yourself successfully moving beyond your comfort zone. Consider the sensations of accomplishment and progress. Visualisation may help you prepare mentally and emotionally to confront obstacles, making the real experience less scary.
Seek Support
I regularly explore the principle of the influential five. This theory suggests that we are moulded by the five people with whom we spend the most time. Surround yourself with supportive, high-quality friends, family, and mentors who will help you improve. Building a supportive network will motivate and encourage you when faced with new obstacles. Sometimes, knowing someone believes in you makes a big impact.
Accept Discomfort as Growth
Reframe suffering as an indicator or a motivator of development. Recognise that being uncomfortable is important to broadening your horizons and doing something different. Associating discomfort with constructive change might help you see these experiences more positively.
Practice Mindfulness and Self-compassion
Mindfulness may help you stay present and engaged even when you are uncomfortable. It allows you to view your emotions without judgement. Combine this with self-compassion, understanding that it is expected to feel terrified or uncertain, and reminding yourself that you are doing something bold.
Create a Failure Resume
This may seem contradictory, but compiling a "failure resume" — a record of times you failed, what you learnt, and how you gained from the experience — might help to demystify failure. It's an effective technique demonstrating that failure is not the end but a step towards achievement.
Join a Group or Community Project
Get involved in a community group or project and connect with people who share your interests or ambitions. This will help you feel more connected and supported, especially in something you might have an interest in but have yet to learn the skill. Surrounding yourself with people with similar obstacles may make moving outside your comfort zone less intimidating.
Reward Yourself
Recognise and appreciate your accomplishments, no matter how minor they may appear. Setting up a reward system for pushing yourself outside your comfort zone might make difficulties more enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
These ten steps are all ways to make moving outside your comfort zone a more doable and meaningful part of your personal development path. No matter how tiny, every step you take outside your comfort zone helps you become a more resilient, capable, and confident version of yourself.
We do challenge readers to make an effort for themselves. The steps in this blog post are small for some and ease people into discomfort. But I challenge you to try some bolder steps. I did write an article on 'Burn the Boats, and do not retreat from your must-do'.
Have a read and take on the challenge. Be bold.