Hello, Reader,

Sitting comfortably in the life you've created for yourself might seem great, but is it really? Do you feel challenged? Are you bored?

Living within your comfort zone means basically living an unchanging life, day after day. For the most part, everything is the same. Same friends. Same coffee shop. Same pathway to work everyday. Same workout routine. Same everything.

While this type of life is comfortable, it isn't challenging or exciting. You aren't growing as a person. You may feel stuck but not be able to determine why.

I recently wrote an article on this very topic and I thought you might want to check it out! It's called Life Begins When You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone. I'll give you a summary here.

Why life begins when you step outside your comfort zone

We like familiarity. It's safe and predictable. But it probably isn't very much fun. Life naturally changes. As you grow older, you're given new responsibilities, faced with new challenges, and provided with new opportunities.

Even in relationships, things can grow stagnant, and this can cause problems if you don't address it.

The truth is that when you step outside of your comfort zone, you find excitement and growth.

Perhaps you're sick of your job but you don't see a way out. Rather than sit there being miserable, why not find a job that intrigues and challenges you? Step outside of your comfort zone and be brave. Ask your boss what you can do to get a promotion. Research jobs in your career path and determine what you need to do to get a job that interests you.

If your relationship feels boring, it's definitely time to step outside your comfort zone. Maybe you've slipped into some sort of routine where you both head off to work in the morning, meet up for dinner after work, and hang out, either together or with your individual friends after dinner. Boring!

Instead, find fun things to do together. Challenge one another in new and exciting ways. Create a bucket list together and then work through the items you've decided to do. Find a hobby you can enjoy together and pursue it.

Kicking routines to the curb

There's safety in routines, but they can also be boring as heck, and they can leave you not even knowing what to do next. How many times have you left home for work and wondered if you closed the garage door or turned off the coffee pot? You're in such a routine that those things are done on autopilot.

If you change your routine, you force your mind to pay attention. You wake yourself up, in essence.

Look for some of the routines in your day and change them up. Go somewhere new for coffee. Re-order your morning routine. Try a different route to work. Sure, you might have to double back to brush your teeth since you're doing things out of order, but your mind is awake! You're outside of your comfort zone, even if just for a few moments.

A little science

There's even a little science that tells us that breaking out of your comfort zone helps you reach your goals. The Yerkes-Dodson Law states that when you live in your comfort zone (with little stress in your life), your performance is lower than if you apply a little stress.

For example, if your job is relatively mundane with little challenge, you can become bored and unmotivated. You don't feel challenged and you aren't motivated to go above and beyond for your boss. The day to day grind of your job feels meaningless.

But, if you apply a moderate level of stress, you can feel the adrenalin kick in. Maybe your boss gives you a project with a short deadline. It's something a little new to you and you don't have a lot of time to do it. You're excited by the challenge and you perform well.

But, be careful. Too much stress can push you over the edge and decrease your productivity. If you've ever watched any sports, there's often a clutch moment for one player. He's got the last-second free-throw shot that will win the game. He needs to kick the extra point in a football game to push his team to a win. This can be too much stress and to the frustration of fans, the player may underperform. The kick he's made ten times before goes wide. The free-throw shot he's made over and over bounces off of the rim. Too much stress.

There's a ton more on living outside your comfort zone in the article so be sure to check it out!

If you'd like to learn more about building your confidence to help you break out of your comfort zone, try this read!