Leaving your comfort zone is the pathway to a better life. It challenges you to break past the boundaries of fear and gain the courage to seek a better life.
Living in an abusive marriage and an unhealthy relationship caused fear, anxiety, and emotional distress. Over time, I became trapped inside my comfort zone and stuck in a rut.
The feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, skepticism, and pessimism were overpowering. Living in despair with no hope for a better life was disastrous.
To search for a better life means leaving one’s comfort zone. Once I began to break out of mine, personal and spiritual growth became inevitable.
What is the Comfort Zone
The comfort zone is a mental state in which a person operates to feel secure, comfortable, and in control of their life.
People who live in their comfort zones are not adventurous or risk-takers and don’t like dramatic life changes. Instead, they live in the comfort zone where it’s safe and place mental limitations on themselves.
They lack the faith needed to move forward in life.
These limitations can produce feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, skepticism, pessimism, despair, mental depression, and feeling stuck in a rut.
Traits of Comfort Zone Dwellers
People who live in their comfort zone tend to perform daily routines, choose a living environment that doesn’t change, procrastinate, accept being average, form habits, live in a mediocrity mindset, and are willing to settle for less in life.
The comfort zone dwellers never push past the boundaries, challenge themselves to do something different, learn new skills, or set new goals in life.
Instead, they hold themselves back with mental limitations and never experience personal or spiritual growth.
#1 Reason People Live in the Comfort Zone
The number one reason people live in their comfort zone is FEAR. As humans, we fear change, failure, and judgment from others.
The mental limitations set within your mind can keep you trapped and operating in a state of fear.
These fears can plague your mind with negative thoughts (what if I can’t do it or don’t make it). They can cause anxiety and emotional distress, and some people will give up trying before their adventure begins.
This fear of the unknown takes control over their mind, and mental limitations prevent them from leaving their comfort zone, making them feel like they’re stuck in a rut.
The Effects of Being Stuck in a Rut
Being stuck in a rut has adverse effects on you and your life. If you’re stuck in this rut, you might stay in unhealthy or abusive relationships and tolerate others treating you poorly. Work at jobs you dislike and continue living in places where you’re unhappy.
Your self-esteem can take a bit of a hit, and you might place a lower value on yourself and feel inadequate and inferior to others. Staying stuck in this rut can turn into sadness and depression, too.
If you continuously experience feelings of sadness or depression, you could develop addictions to food, drugs, alcohol, smoking, and other bad habits.
It can be difficult to pick yourself up once you’re stuck in a rut. However, it is possible and requires a great deal of internal work.
Why You Should Leave the Comfort Zone
So, why should you leave the comfort zone when it feels so comfortable?
Breaking out of your comfort zone is the pathway to a better life.
When you push past the boundaries of your comfort zone and learn to overcome fear, you will experience personal growth, which will ultimately lead to a better life.
You will be more adventurous, learn to enjoy taking reasonable risks, and your life will improve.
The mental limitations will diminish, you will have more confidence in yourself, your life will be more fulfilling, and you will ultimately be happier.
It’s a win-win situation for you mentally and physically.
Stepping Outside the Comfort Zone
For certain people, the idea of stepping outside their comfort zone can be downright fearful, uncomfortable, and overwhelming.
If you’re a shy person or an introvert, it can feel very, very scary, uncomfortable, and overwhelming. It could even paralyze you with such fear that it prevents you from taking action completely. It would be best to overcome this fear and the feelings associated with being uncomfortable.
The secret is to replace fear with FAITH and to have confidence in the Lord’s abilities to help you.
By the grace of God, you will be able to do anything you set your mind to do.
If you don’t take action to move forward in life, you will always be stuck in a rut, settle for less, feel inadequate, and never experience personal or spiritual growth.
The expression “No gain without pain” will apply as you continue to take steps outside your comfort zone.
Taking action is essential; let’s get stepping!
3 Tips for Leaving Your Comfort Zone
1. Turn Fear into Faith
The first step is learning to turn fearful feelings into faith. Faith is a full assurance in the heart or complete confidence in a person or plan.
Having faith is not a mental state; it’s full assurance in your heart without wavering in your mind.
If you believe in Jesus, faith is a full assurance you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Philippians 4:13 KJV
It’s a slow process; you’ll see the results over time as you move outside your comfort zone in faith. You’ll be less fearful, and your confidence will build.
2. Accept Being Uncomfortable
The second step is learning to accept being uncomfortable.
Feeling awkward in certain situations and uncomfortable in strange places or around unfamiliar people is expected.
When you live outside your comfort zone, uncomfortable feelings don’t prevent you from moving forward in awkward situations. You learn to deal with and overcome mental limitations.
Using your faith, you break out of your comfort zone.
3. Keep Overwhelming Feelings to a Minimum
The third step is learning to keep the overwhelming feelings at a minimum.
The secret to this step is taking things slowly and not moving too quickly since this can increase anxiety levels. Increasing your anxiety levels can prevent you from moving forward.
It’s better to make one small bold move at a time and succeed. Than it is to make several large bold moves at once and fall flat.
These steps will help you deal with the discomfort you’ll face after leaving your comfort zone.
Growing Outside the Comfort Zone
The point of leaving your comfort zone is to experience personal growth, rid yourself of those feelings of being stuck, unhappy, and whatever else brings you down, and have a more fulfilling life.
It’s essential to evaluate yourself and your life.
Is your life heading in the right direction for you, or are there some changes you can make to it that will make you happier and ultimately more fulfilled?
Take a good look at your life and answer the following questions.
- Are you happy?
- Are you living the life you want, or are you living for others?
- What changes would you like to make in your life? Today!
- Is there anything new you would like to learn?
- Do you have an adventure or trip you would like to take?
- What are some personal goals you want to achieve?
Once you have the answers to these essential questions, you can set personal goals, learn new skills, read self-improvement and emotional and spiritual growth information, and take an adventure or a trip somewhere special.
Feel free to post your answers or comments below.
God Helps You Thrive Outside the Comfort Zone
Don’t you want the best life God has planned for You?
I’ve learned not to be afraid, to take healthy risks, and to allow God to improve my life.
I moved to California in my early twenties with only some clothes and a few thousand dollars to our name. It was the best move of my life. The Lord rescued me in a small mission in California.
In my mid-forties, I moved independently with my youngest child, another great move. I’m happy and have experienced remarkable personal and spiritual growth.
New Skills Learned in Life
Learning how to care for elderly and developmentally disabled individuals was a blessing. It helped me understand the sufferings of others and overcome past hurts.
Reading how to design websites using online information for free enabled me to create this blog. These skills allow me to share my testimony of God’s saving grace with other suffering survivors. I pray this blog offers them hope for an abundant life.
The most significant accomplishment was learning how to write. I dropped out of high school at the end of eleventh grade. Math and English were my worst subjects, too. You really can do all things through Christ, which strengthens us.
Praise the Lord!