comfort zone Archives

Four Easy Ways to Think Beyond Your Comfort Zone

Thinking outside your comfort zone is a little like coloring outside the lines. Those lines may not seem like much, but in reality they are boundaries that may be holding you back from learning new things, exploring the unknown or moving ahead with your dreams for success.

Being stuck inside your comfort zone is a lot about habits. In the same way that you stop at the same Tim Horton’s for coffee, eat lunch at the same diner with the same friends, or shop at the same grocery store each week, your thinking patterns can become a habit as well.
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9 Tips for Expanding Your Comfort Zone and Your Creativity

By Ruth 6 Comments

We’ve all heard the saying “life begins at the edge of your comfort zone”. It could also be said that your creativity also begins at the edge of your comfort zone.Yet moving beyond the boundaries of what is comfortable and familiar can be a very scary thing.

Part of the problem stems from the fact that many people, me included, just don’t like change. Another part of the problem comes from the thought that we have to make massive changes all at once. It’s much easier to stay stuck doing what’s familiar, whether we’re talking about being creative or about life in general.

It takes a lot of energy to stay stuck, especially when there’s no need to. There’s a way to move beyond your comfort zone that can be almost painless… and that is by taking little steps to push the boundaries back ever so slightly. Change then becomes a gradual thing, instead of this massively life-altering one-shot deal. Of course, if you want to take one giant leap, I’m not going to be the one to stop you. :)

Here are a few ideas to get you started thinking about how you can move just one step beyond where you’re comfortable now:

1. Try a new food

Trying a new food can be a daunting experience. We all have our “comfort foods” and favorites, and sometimes we’re pretty set in our ways. Your new food choice doesn’t have to be huge. It could be as simple as trying a new vegetable, or checking out a new restaurant.

2. Find a new route for your walk or run

Change up your walking route. You can still keep your same distance, but go in the opposite direction, or drive to a different park with different trails than you’re used to. If you’re not sure where to go, you can always check out other routes in your area on apps like Strava or MapMyRun.

3. Sit somewhere else

Do you have a favorite chair you collapse relax into at the end of a busy day? I do. And when I swap that for sitting on the couch, or when I swap my desk for the kitchen table to work at, it creates a different energy that can move you a step or two outside comfortable.

4. Get in touch with someone you haven’t talked to in awhile

This can be a very uncomfortable feeling if you’ve let old friendships lapse. But once you get talking again, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.

5. Do something a little scary

So this is a little bigger step. Try something that you’ve always been afraid to do. Roller coaster? Bungee jumping? Going to a networking event? Once you do the thing you’re afraid of, there’s no going back. Your comfort zone will have permanently expanded.

6. Read a book or watch a movie in a different genre

I’ve always found it amazing how we get stuck in reading and movie ruts. If you always read romances, try a mystery instead. Or if you only like watching action movies, a documentary makes a nice change of pace. Different genres will give you different perspectives and ideas to consider.

7. Have an unplugged day

Being disconnected from tv, the internet, and your smart phone can have you taking a huge step outside your comfort zone. We’re all so attached to our devices these days, we don’t really know what to do without them.

8. Say hello to a stranger

It will be a comfort-stretching exercise for you, but it might just make the other person’s day.

I know I’ve told the story before about how one day I was walking down the street feeling really bad, close to tears and an older, homeless man passed me on the sidewalk. “Smile gorgeous,” he said, “It can’t be that bad.” Even now, I smile when I think of that moment. He made my day without even trying.

9. Embrace silence

Spend a few minutes each day in silent meditation. Start slowly with 5 or 10 minutes, and work up to 30 minutes a day. It might feel uncomfortable at first, but stick with it. It’s one of the best things you can do for yourself to move outside your comfort zone in a peaceful and painless way.

As you can see, expanding your comfort zone doesn’t have to be a super scary thing. Little steps every day can move you from where you are now to where you want to be… outside your comfort zone. You’ll find that when you get there, your creativity will have expanded too!

What do you do to move beyond your comfort zone? Leave a comment and let me know!

Sunday Reflections: Stretching Outside My Comfort Zone

By Ruth Leave a Comment

You know that saying, “Life begins at the edge of your comfort zone”? Well, I’m taking that to heart this month and stretching beyond my own comfort zone.

How am I doing this? By taking part in Kelly McCausey’s Stretch Yourself Challenge.

Why am I doing this? Because I need to take my business up a level in so many ways it’s not even funny. I’ll be honest here… I’ve been stuck for awhile now. I know what I want to do, and I know how I want my business to look and what all the moving parts are… but I haven’t been able to put it together in such a way that it makes me want to jump out of bed in anticipation each day. I guess you could say my comfort zone has gotten just a little too comfortable, and the frustration of not moving forward is really wearing on me.

I was reading an article the other day that said “Life doesn’t change until your actions change.” And that’s so true. It’s always a little scary to do something that’s outside your comfort zone, and let’s be honest here… everything new is at least a little ways outside that zone.

The Stretch Yourself Challenge is a good one for me because I’ve always been super shy to put myself out there and really tell people what I do. In fact, on Wednesday last week (the first day of the challenge) I posted a picture of the colouring books I’ve published so far. I’d just gotten a delivery of the physical copies, and it was the first time I’d really shown anyone in my circle what I’ve been up to lately. That was a stretch for me…. A baby step stretch perhaps, but a stretch just the same.

And this challenge will allow me to stretch in even more ways. Already I am starting to put together a new website for my research business. That’s the biggest piece of my business and aside from the colouring books is the one that gets me most excited. Yet until I started working on that site, I had never told anyone about my love of research and my skills. (And I’m pretty darned good at it, if I do say so myself!) That’s another stretch.

This post telling you about how I’m planning to stretch myself this month is another one. Posting this completes 1 of the 9 challenges Kelly has set out for us this month. I doubt very much I’ll get all 9 done, but I’d like to at least complete 3 or 4 of them.

My super stretch for the month is to do some video: a welcome video for each of my sites, as well as some video tips. That will be really uncomfortable for me because I am not comfortable being in front of a camera. But there is no growth without discomfort, and so I’m just gonna do it because staying stuck here in the comfort zone is really not an option anymore.

The truth is, your comfort zone will trap you if you let it. There’s nothing wrong with feeling a little uncomfortable in order to learn new things and achieve new goals. If your intuition is screaming at you that something is wrong with the picture, by all means listen to it. But if you know the butterflies in your stomach are just there because you’re a little nervous about trying something new… make the stretch and see what happens. You might be surprised at what’s waiting for you on the edge of your comfort zone!

It’s not too late to join me in stretching this month! Check out the Stretch Yourself Challenge and see if it’s something that will work for you.