We all have a comfort zone that consists of things that we enjoy, things we know we’re good at, and things that we have a lot of experience with. When it comes to making decisions about whether or not we engage with something or a task that is in our comfort zone, the decision is easy. We don’t come up against any huge mental roadblocks—there is little to no psychological resistance to us doing it.
The opposite is true often for things outside of our comfort zone. These are things that we may not think we’re ‘good’ at or we don’t have any experience with so we experience feelings like lack of confidence, fear, anxiety, etc. These mental roadblocks can be enough to fully activate our avoidance patterns, making our response to be aligned with running in the opposite direction.
Everyone has a comfort zone but some people are definitely better at stepping out of it to face their ‘fears’. These people often appear like they enjoy ‘putting themselves out there’, trying new things, almost dare-devilish at times. But the reality is, the reason why they are able to do this is because they look at these ‘fears’ as nothing more than something they don’t know well or as an area they haven’t fully developed mastery or skill in. People who act in avoidance to things outside of their comfort zone interpret those fears as being absolute; if they fail, they are a failure.
Facing your fears or stepping out of your comfort zone all goes back to one thing: do you have a fixed or growth mindset? Do you see your ‘fear’ as opportunity to learn something you know nothing about? Or do you see it as a threat to your self-concept?
-Coach Lauren
