Stepping out of Comfort Zones

One of the greatest hurdles that people face when taking the step to become successful is the capacity to step outside the comfort zone. The comfort zone is something that our mind has setup to protect us from getting hurt. Therefore, if we try and step out of it, our minds would tell us that we’re not supposed to be doing it, and we will feel pain, uneasiness and fear because we are not used to it. However, in order to become successful in any areas in life, we need to be able to stretch ourselves and do what we would not normally do. This is how we all achieve self-improvement and grow to become successful.

Being Comfortable About Being Uncomfortable

One of my mentors used to say “If we want to grow, we all need to become comfortable at being uncomfortable”. The phrase doesn’t sound so good but it basically means that we should be getting used to stepping out of our comfort zones and be comfortable of that fact in order for us to grow and achieve self-improvement. Change is something that we have to get used to, and change often involves stepping out of our comfort zone. Majority of the people in this world would not even consider doing that. Many people choose to remain as they are, and they never grow and improve and achieve success. If we are to become successful we all need to grow.

Understanding our Emotions

I learned from Dean’s book that in order for us to be able to step out of our comfort zones, we need to understand our emotions and what we link to certain things. The things within our comfort zone are often associated with feelings or emotion of pleasure. Hence, we all stick to what we know, as it feels good to us. What we need to do is to change the way we associate what is outside our comfort zones. We need to associate pleasure to those that we are not used to doing in order for us to progress and expand our comfort zone. That way, we develop empowering habits that will help us achieve success and self-improvement.

My Journey To Self-Improvement

I would like to share with you my experience with stepping out of my comfort zone. I grew up in a small town in the Philippines, and I had a very comfortable lifestyle there. Growing up, my parents had some house help, driver, chef, gardener, and I felt like living in royalty. My family’s not wealthy, but we weren’t poor either. It was just how life is back in my country. I went to university in the capital Manila, a thousand miles by air from my hometown, where I had to live on my own without any house help, chef, driver or anyone to do the things that I wasn’t used to. It was my first experience of living on my own, and I don’t know how to do the basic survival stuff. I knew that going to that university is one of the best things I can do for myself (as it was one of the best in the country) but at the same time, I was very uncomfortable. I chose to grow. I chose to develop myself, hence I had to step out of my comfort zone.

When I finished university, I had 2 options: first was to find work in the capital Manila and find my own way through life, and the other was to help in our family business and rely on my parents for sustenance. I did not have any business background at that time, but I knew how the business ran. I could have been more comfortable doing that and be in the company of my family and my old friends from high school. Instead, I chose to step out of my comfort zone and take the journey on my own. I decided to take a low-paying job at a multinational company and fend for myself instead of relying on my parents to support me while I “work” in our business. It would have been so easy if I just stayed in my hometown and just rely on my parents with the business, but I believe that in order for me to be successful, I need to learn to be uncomfortable sometimes. Hence, I took the path of finding my own way through life, and learning to live on my own, and in a different country.

Continually, I have stepped out of my comfort zone and I have achieved self-improvement in my life because of my actions and my decision to step out of the comfort zone. I have been uncomfortable for the longest time, and I’m really glad that I have, as I am on the path to self-improvement and to achieve success in many areas in my life.

I hope you all will learn that being uncomfortable is part of the learning experience, and the path to your self-improvement.

Have a most OUTSTANDING day!

Kelvin Lim

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