Don’t Step Out of Your Comfort Zone
And still, achieve your goals
Imagine a pool of muddy water, and you need to cross it to get a reward. Many self-help gurus will push you to let go of your fears and jump into the water. Unless your life is in danger, it is hard to step into the unknown.
What if I told you that the water is just 30 cms (1 foot) deep? Or, what if you were a skilled swimmer? Would you need to battle your fears, or will it be an easy decision to make?
Myth: You can’t be successful if you don’t step out of your comfort zone
There are millions of articles shaming us for being stuck inside our comfort zone. Their argument is that you can’t be successful if you stick to your comfort zone.
But there is a better way than jumping into the unknown — enhancing your knowledge and developing your skills.
Elon Musk isn’t trying to become the greatest pianist ever. Now that would be an attempt at stepping out of his comfort zone.
Yet, you are being told by countless self-help gurus to wake up at 5 am even though you are a night owl with a maximum productivity zone after midnight.
Expanding your knowledge, enhancing your skills and embracing change is necessary for personal growth. But why should all this be uncomfortable? Why should every growth opportunity be a fight unto death using your will power?
Truth: You can achieve success from within your comfort zone by expanding it
The next level of success eludes us because
- There is a knowledge gap, or
- There is a skill gap, or
- There is fear
Let’s take an example — suppose you want to become an impactful presenter. You will need to go through the following three steps:
Step 1: Identify and bridge your knowledge-gap
An impactful presentation requires excellent visual aid. You cannot make a 20 bullet slide and wow the crowd. Your audience will be busy reading your slide and barely pay attention to what you are saying.
There are hundreds of courses and YouTube videos that will give you all the knowledge needed to make better slides, including design, layout, text, images, etc.
Another aspect of presenting is to learn how to speak clearly and succinctly, which includes vocabulary, grammar, and diction.
You can listen to podcasts, TED talks, and YouTube videos by great speakers to improve your speaking abilities. You can even add hundreds of new words to your vocabulary by picking up the good old dictionary.
“Be a lifelong student. The more you learn, the more you earn and more self-confidence you will have.”
— Brian Tracy
But knowledge alone is not sufficient.
If you are learning to drive, then knowledge of the steering wheel and the pedals isn’t enough, you need to get into a car and practice driving.
Step 2: Practice over and over to bridge your skill gap
More often than not, gathering knowledge is the easy first step, but converting knowledge into skill requires practice and determination.
“To become really good at anything, you have to practice and repeat, practice and repeat, until the technique becomes intuitive.”
— Paulo Coelho
Going back to the impactful presenter example, you will need to develop your skills as a presenter by practicing often. For example, you can
- Speak in front of a mirror
- Record videos of yourself over and over and improve as you go
- Ask your family and friends to give you feedback
- Hire a coach
As you develop your skill as a presenter, you will gain confidence in stepping in front of an audience, but you won’t — fear will stop your dead in your tracks.
Step 3: Overcome fear
Evolutionary biology taught us to be cautious. Our brains evolved to protect us from dying, so anything new is perceived as a threat, and our brain presents us with scenarios that may be physically or psychologically painful.
Now, embracing fear is often equated with stepping out of our comfort zone. It’s not the same.
Once you have gained knowledge and developed your skills, your comfort zone has expanded.
It is like someone has handed you a flashlight in a dark room. Fear may still come up, but now you have the confidence to shine a light around and avoid tripping over the dog.
You may still experience fear when stepping in front of a live audience, but you will have confidence in your slides, and in your numerous practice attempts via video recordings. This practice will put you in a position of power and certainty.
Bonus Idea: Take baby steps
If a live audience feels too overwhelming, try taking baby steps by:
- Recording short presentations and share them on social media — this way you are not presenting live, still getting feedback
- Presenting a webinar — you are live, but not physically in front of an audience
Over time, you will build confidence in your knowledge and skills to achieve a new level of success.
In a nutshell
You don’t need to step out of your comfort zone to achieve success. You can expand your comfort zone by enhancing your knowledge and developing your skills.
While you are working on expanding your comfort zone, don’t nag yourself or beat yourself up.