Comfort zone is called a comfort zone for a reason – because you’ve used to do things there and you feel comfortable about it. But being in your comfort zone is not going to help you grow.
When you stay in your comfort zone for a long time, it kills productivity and growth.
Think about it, if you do what you have always done, what do you expect? The same old result.
You’re not going to create anything new in your life. Your life becomes boring because things are expected.
And the next thing you know is that you refuse to make a change because you have been so comfortable in doing what you have always done, and you are afraid to do things differently.
This is what kills growth. And this is what prevents most people from going after their goals and dreams.
People wanted to start a business, but they are worried about uncertainty and afraid if they fail.
People wanted to invest in stocks and real estate, but they doubt if they are going to make money and if the market will continue to perform.
And due to all these doubts, fears, and worries, people choose to procrastinate and stay where they are. They become stagnant and refuse to make a change.
Being too comfortable kills your success.
Hence, stop staying in your comfort zone for too long. From time to time, you need to do something to challenge yourself and spice things up.
Here are 5 reasons why stepping outside of your comfort zone is important if you want to live a great life…
1. You’re able to upgrade yourself and become better, faster, and stronger
Success is not so much about how big your goals and dreams are, but rather, it is about how big and how much you can grow.
I always love to use the example given by Harv Eker in his best-selling book, Secrets of The Millionaire Mind. In the book, Eker said that it is not the size of the problem or your goal that is the issue, the real issue is the size of you.
Imagine if you are playing games and your character is at level 3. When you face an enemy at level 5, it will be a tough battle for your character because his level is too low.
What if you upgraded your character and becomes level 10? The same level-5 enemy will become an easy fight for your character. You can win the battle easily.
This is exactly what is happening in our lives. We think that earning $20,000 a month is difficult and challenging because our levels are low.
But for someone who is already playing at a higher level where they are earning $200,000 a month, earning $20,000 a month will not be an issue at all.
It is your level that determines your success and the results you get in life.
Therefore, work on upgrading yourself, your skills, your knowledge, and improve your character to become better, faster, and stronger.
When you become better, more skillful, and more knowledgeable, you can attract greater success.
For example, if you want to earn $100,000 a month, you first need to develop the skills and knowledge on how to earn that amount of money and then maintaining it.
There is no way you can make $100,000 a month if you don’t have the right mindset and skill to earn and manage it.
Remember this: You can’t get rich thinking poor.
This is why getting out of your comfort zone is important. When you do something you have never done before, you will get different results that you have never got before.
And the only way to do so is to venture out of your comfort zone and do things that are uncomfortable.
2. You become more resilient
Another important benefit of stepping out of your comfort zone is that it can make you more resilient.
We all know that success is not something easy to achieve. If it is easy, everybody will be successful, but because it is difficult, achieving it requires your ability to bounce back from failure and learning from mistakes.
Many people give up when they face difficulties or when they fail at something. Successful people are resilient people who look at mistakes and failures differently.
Like what Thomas Edison said:
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Thomas Edison
The more you venture out of your comfort zone, the more you will understand that failures and mistakes are nothing but lessons and experience.
And if you want to be successful, reach greater heights in your life, and make your dreams a reality, you must gain the experience to become wiser.
This is why people who are NOT afraid to try out new things usually are more resilient, and they tend to be more successful in life.
Do you know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has ever tried.
So, don’t be afraid to fail.
Many people got it wrong to think that failure is the opposite of success. Wrong!
Failure is what produces success.
Think about it, success is the results of experience. And where do we gain the most experience from? Failure.
Failure makes you stronger, wiser, more skillful, and more resilient. You celebrate when you succeed. But you ponder and learn the most when you fail.
This is why it is important to challenge yourself and do the uncomfortable so that you can expand your comfort zone.
Read: How Successful People Overcome Failures and Bounce Back
3. You become more confident
Again, the more you try out new things, the better you become. And when you know what to do, you become more confident.
Think about it, if you have never been to a foreign country, going there the first time may sound scary and you may feel a little worried. But if you have been to that country many times before, you will have better confidence and become used to it.
Just like everything else in life, regardless of whether it is to speak to the public, cook for the poor, quit your job to start a new business venture, or to build a website, everything is uncomfortable in the beginning, when you don’t have much experience.
But once you get used to it, once you do it over and over again, things will become easy.
Your confidence soar and you become better and better at it.
This is how successful people become great at what they do.
And this is how you can become great at what you do too. Just practice, learn, and train to become better.
The more you perform and improve on your work, the better and the more confident you become.
Confidence is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets.
People lack confidence because they don’t challenge themselves to venture out of their comfort zone. The more you do the things that scare you, the less scary they become.
Think about writing an article. If you have never written an article before, it can take you an entire day to come up with a 1,000 words article.
But if you are a blogger like me, who writes almost every day, writing an article of 1,000 words will not be such a great problem for you.
If you want to achieve extraordinary results and become a specialist in your industry, you must have the courage to challenge yourself and deliver great work.
That’s how you succeed and get paid the most.
When you become the best person to go to in your industry, people will pay you the best money for your products and services.
And how do you become the best in what you do? You grow your confidence.
And how do you do that? You challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone all the time.
Thus, be willing to go beyond your comfort zone. It will build your confidence and make you better at what you do.
Read: 5 Powerful Ways to Boost Your Confidence
4. You become optimistic and open to new ideas and opportunities
People who always challenge themselves to go out of their comfort zone are more optimistic than those who don’t.
If you have never invested in the stock market before and you want to make your first investment, you may feel scared and think, “What if I lose all my hard-earned money?”
However, for people who have done it before, they have the experience, they understand how things work and they are more optimistic about it.
When you always challenge yourself to do something uncomfortable, you will be more willing to try out new things in the future. Hence, it makes you more open to new ideas and opportunities.
Someone who has never tried something new will never be open to new ideas and opportunities.
The more you do the difficult things, the more open-minded you will become. You become more acceptable to taking risks and doing the uncomfortable.
Hence, you become someone optimistic because you have done it for so many times before and you know that fear only appears in your head.
On the other hand, people who never venture out of their comfort zones are usually more pessimistic about things.
Even when they are presented with a good offer, chances are, they will be skeptical or too doubtful to accept.
This is because they rarely take the chances. And because they seldom go for an opportunity that presented right in front of them, they become less open to other opportunities around them.
So, challenge yourself, do something new, and be willing to do the uncomfortable because that’s what will make all the difference.
Read: Why Optimism is Important and How to Practice Being Optimistic
5. You’re able to achieve greater success
Yes, you can only discover new oceans if you are willing to lose sight of the shore.
If you don’t do what is uncomfortable, you will become like everyone else, doing the comfortable and living in mediocrity.
The more you are willing to fail, the more you are willing to experience, and the more you are willing to venture beyond your comfort zone, the more success you can achieve. As what Tony Robbins said:
“Success in life is the result of good judgment. Good judgment is usually the result of experience. Experience is usually the result of bad judgment.”
Anthony Robbins
Most people look at failure as something bad. But it really is not. Failure is just lessons and experience. It is feedback telling you what went wrong and what you need to improve to get the right results.
Never be afraid of making mistakes and failures because they build your character.
The more you fail, the more you learn. And the more you learn, the better you can be.
The only thing is that you must not quit. As long as you continue to improve and be persistent with your effort, success will eventually be yours.
Staying within your comfort zone will never help you gain new experience and learn new lessons.
If you want to achieve something you never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.
Success will come to you when you are willing to do the uncomfortable and difficult that most people shun away from.
Read: 10 Key Differences between Successful and Unsuccessful People
How to challenge yourself and venture out of your comfort zone
By now, I bet you know the importance of challenging yourself and stepping outside of your comfort zone.
But, how do you get out of your comfort zone?
Read my guide here:
15 Ways How to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone and Live Great
Set a challenging goal and stick to it
One of the easiest ways to breakthrough and expand your comfort zone is to set a challenging and exciting goal that will greatly impact your life.
Of course, goal setting itself is a skill you must learn. Plus, you need to also set the right goal that is not overly unrealistic or unattainable, nor too easy to achieve that you don’t feel the challenge at all.
Most important of all, you must stick to your goal. There is no point to set a challenging goal, but you don’t stick to your plan.
And when it comes to setting goals, I want to let you know that Goal Setting Formula is a powerful method you can apply to help you achieve what you want in life.
Success starts with your intention. And your intention can be magnified through your goals.
Therefore, learn how to set empowering goals that will drive you and get you moving.
Use Goal Setting Formula to set goals to challenge yourself to achieve greater heights in life and set the right goals to reach the success you want.