Our minds go to a lot of trouble to keep us safely shored up in our comfort zones. Within these ‘safe zones’ we carry out our normal routine, content in the knowledge that we have the skills and learned behaviours required to manage the situations we regularly face— whether at work, at home, or with friends. And so the years pass by in a feeling of relative security, as our brains try to shield us from stressful experiences or nasty surprises. As such, our personal comfort zone does an excellent job of protecting us from danger, impulsive decision-making, and potential embarrassment.
But the flipside is that our comfort zone also protects us from growth.
Why a little bit of anxiety pushes us to greater heights
Research shows that performance rises significantly when we are required to step a little out of our comfort zones: that is, when we achieve what’s referred to as ‘Optimal Anxiety’. This slightly uncomfortable state of mind exerts moderate pressure and pushes to rise to a challenge—although if the stress is too great, then the anxiety overwhelms us and performance plummets. The key is to set achievable goals that are currently just out of reach, and also to return to your comfort zone periodically to rest and recharge.
Successful leaders know that they have to step out of their comfort zones at times in order to achieve optimum performance and keep building their skills and self-confidence as leaders. Those who step out of their comfort zone soon realise that the new skill or behaviour rapidly becomes part of their existing comfort zone—and so the comfort zone expands to take in more challenges, more interesting skills, and a greater self-belief that positively informs each new task that comes their way.
The benefits of stepping outside your comfort zone
-You become much more productive at work. When you’re under a little bit of pressure, you don’t waste time scrolling through facebook, or do your job on auto-pilot. Your brain fires up to deal with the challenge at hand, and the work you produce consequently tends to be of higher quality.
-You become better at handling stress. Because our comfort zone actively steers us away from stressful situations, when a difficult situation does arise we’re often ill-equipped to deal with it. Pushing yourself to try new things and accept challenges familiarises you with ‘positive’ stress and proves that you can withstand it, so the next time your boss raises their voice at you or a seemingly unachievable deadline lands on your desk, you feel better equipped to deal with the challenge.
-Your mind will open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Expanding your comfort zone to new experiences and skills often opens your eyes in interesting ways. You might suddenly have a breakthrough on how to tackle a persistent problem at work, or realise that one of the systems you’ve been using is just holding your team back. Stepping outside your comfort zone boosts your creativity and confidence, giving you a new perspective.
-You’ll see the benefits in multiple areas. You’ll often find that stepping outside your comfort zone in one area of your life tends to make you feel capable of extending your comfort zone in other directions and areas too.
–Stepping out of your comfort zone can transform your whole team. As a leader you set the tone, and you might be surprised to see your team emulate your new enthusiasm for learning new skills and behaviours. If you’re setting your team challenges so they can reach ‘Optimal Anxiety’, then be aware that each person tends to have different levels of stress, so you need to tailor your plan to each individual accordingly.
How to expand your comfort zone
It might be asking for that salary increase; it might be enrolling in a new training programme to improve your skills. It might be dealing with that difficult employee in a completely new way, facing your fear of public speaking, or any manner of actions you feel uncomfortable performing.
It may have nothing to do with work whatsoever- it might be forcing yourself to go online dating, or trying a new sport that you’ve been too scared to try because you fear making a fool of yourself.
It might even be a few little things, such as walking a different way to work, or promising yourself you’ll try two new things a month (it can even be a different café.) You can start as small as you like- but the key is that if it makes you a bit excited and a bit scared at the same time, then that’s a great challenge to go for to really expand your comfort zone in a consequential way and reap the benefits.
Sometimes it’s necessary to find out what you’re actually capable of when you step outside the familiar. You’ll probably be surprised at the positive changes that expanding your comfort zone will have on you personally (and perhaps even your team).
Until next time,
Julia
