Our comfort zone is the place where we feel knowledgeable, strong, in-charge, and safe. Life feels good when we are living it in our “comfort zone.” Stress, anxiety, and fear are non-existent; instead, confidence and calm abound.
Still, for all the wonderful sentiments associated with our “comfort zone”, we oftentimes – purposely- choose to wander “to the other side” knowing that we will likely encounter storms and turbulence.
Yet, we voluntarily wander “to the other side.” Why? If life is peaceful, safe, and warm why turn it upside down? Why venture into unknown territories that may very well bring pain and struggle?
Well, we travel to “the other side” for growth. Often, the rewards of growth will far out-weigh the safety of traveling the comfortable road. Here are a few thoughts as to why we make the choice to go for growth over staying safe and comfortable.
Reasons to Choose Growth Over Comfort
1. Achieve and maintain success
Stepping out of our comfort zones and reaching for growth is necessary to achieve the success level that most of us desire and seek. Success comes with advancement and growth, so in choosing growth over comfort, we are choosing to give ourselves the chance to excel.
Then, as we continue to grow instead of settling for comfort, we can ensure that we hold on to or increase our level of achievement and success.
2. Self-improvement or development
If we stick to what is comfortable, we can never fully nurture, improve, or grow the skills and talents that we have. Also, if we remain in a space where everything is familiar, we can never develop new skills or discover hidden abilities that may be just what we need to succeed.
Staying in a position of comfort limits our reach and resulting in our growth reaching a stage we term plateau – very little movement or change. So, choosing comfort overgrowth requires us to accept limitations on what we can do and how we live. By choosing comfort overgrowth we will limit ourselves and set boundaries on what we can achieve and ultimately on our personal fulfillment.
3. Comfort is susceptible to disruption from changes
The stability of our comfort zone is dependent on the environment and the people around us. As the environment changes and the people change; those changes can directly impact our “comfort zone.” As a result, what we thought was an oasis can quickly become a desert.
So, we have a choice to make: stay in our “comfort zone” or head out to “the other side” and grow. Choosing comfort overgrowth, in this case, is leaving our fate totally to chance versus taking some action and having some level of input in our life’s journey.
4. Experience and adventure bring opportunity
When we take chances and explore new places or try new activities, we open ourselves up to new experiences and adventures.
This broadening of our scope can expose us to people, places, things, and opportunities that would have never come across our path had we chosen to live in the status quo existence of comfort.
Growth allows us to evolve and puts us in the place of realizing dreams that seemed impossible.
5. Lend inspiration and direction to others
Helping others is a fulfilling experience for most of us. When we chose comfort overgrowth it restricts our ability and capacity to reach out to others to lift them up, give them moral support, and inspire them to strive to be their very best.
However, when we choose to grow our very action inspires them to aim higher, stay confident in the face of challenges, set goals, and work diligently to meet if not beat those goals.
By stepping out, we set the tone for others to see the benefits in reaching for greater successes and go after them. This then benefits us all, as it results in new ideas, new inventions, new technologies, and improvements to life as we know it.
So, it’s great when things feel under control, stress-free, and manageable. Yet, if we never let go of that ease we will never experience the possibility of true success and achievements that can change not just our lives but can shape the future for generations to come.
We can go through life safely avoiding as many challenges as we can, or we can prepare ourselves to fight to know that although sometimes we’ll win and sometimes we’ll lose; when we sum it all up, in the end, the level we reach, the fulfillment we experience and contributions we make are well worth the inconveniences and the discomfort.