Step out of your comfort zone

We all want progress, especially of the financial kind. Not having enough money can have impact other areas of our life in ways we may not like. We all desire change; most new governments ride to power on the back of a promise to bring change. Desiring change is wonderful. Growth is a sign of life. The challenge is: we want to grow inside our comfort zone. Growth and change only happens when you step out of your comfort zone.

We are in love with the familiar, hence we feel secure in doing things we are familiar with. We want more, but we don’t want to reach out for it beyond our comfort zone, hence we try harder doing the same thing – what we are familiar with – but expecting a different result.

To achieve more, you need to put yourself in unfamiliar surroundings

You need to go where you have not been before and do what you have not done before. When it comes to growth, this is one of the best piece of advice I have ever received. I first came across it around 2005 well before the information overload from social media. I wish I kept it to heart all this years. It is usually the pain of stagnation that brings to my awareness that my comfort zone is suffocating me.

Doing something new is scary. For many, something as simple as visiting their bank or broker to ask questions about investment opportunities is scary business. For others, going online to get information or reading books seem like a huge task. Few hardly fact check what they read. They believe it hook line and sinker. They criticize what they have no knowledge of, nor bother to find out. I have met many ‘experts’ who are yet to put the knowledge they have into practice.

There are others who took a step years ago and have mastered the money market instrument of their choice, and have never bothered to explore others. Some are afraid to move beyond fixed income securities as they are afraid to venture into higher yield investments due to the risk involved. Rather than study how to manage the risks, they allow fear to keep them rooted to one spot. For others, it may be taking a step that will take their business to the next level. Rather than step into unfamiliar territory, they redouble their efforts doing what they have been doing thus far that does not seem to work. They seem to be hitting a glass ceiling.

Your reality is a reflection of your expectations.

You may have high expectations in your head but deep inside, you don’t believe you can go much further than where you are currently. You want to move forward but a voice keep warning you of the dangers that lie ahead and the belief that you will not succeed. You are like a driver trying to move a car with the handbrakes on.

Until you deal with those self limiting beliefs, you will find yourself on a treadmill running faster but heading nowhere. It reminds me of the government sending a nominee to the Senate for confirmation only for the Department of State Services (DSS) to send a letter the Senate disqualifying the same nominee. Until you deal with the ‘enemy’ within, you will keep setting goals that fall flat on its face.

There are several ways to deal with this. One way is to consciously step out of your comfort zone. You can prove your inner critic wrong by doing something it said you cannot do. As you do that consistently, the voice grows quieter and less effective.

You are your greatest enemy. The part of you that wants to keep you from failure and making mistakes is tying you down in your comfort zone, impeding your progress towards your goals and dreams. Take calculated risks. There is one way to find out if something will actually work – by doing it. You have no way of knowing how it would have turned out if you do not try.

Failure is part of the process.

If you want to totally eliminate the risk of failure, then don’t try something new. Don’t go to school, learn to drive or learn anything for that matter, as you may probably fail. When you start to look at failure as a setback – an integral part of the learning process, you will not be surprised if it shows up. You simply learn the lessons and move on until you get it.

When you have a crystal clear image of what you want to achieve, focusing on it until it becomes internalized, your feelings start to change, and you begin to take action on a sustainable basis leading to the results you desire – the picture you have been carrying about.

You start to take action on a sustainable basis which effectively pushes you beyond your comfort zone. You are now driven by a vision rather than comfort or convenience. This moves you to do your homework and pay the full price. When your mission is clear, focus becomes easier. You find it easier to start and complete tasks. Your priorities fall into place as you marshal your resources into the project that matters most to you.

Staying too long in your comfort zone brings a lot of unpleasant consequences. It makes you a sitting duck, ending up as part of the debris left behind by change. You become a victim in a recession, or among the ones technology left behind. Change is the only constant thing in life. If you refuse to change and cling to your comfort zone, that refuge can become your tomb. Make a quality decision of stepping out of your comfort zone. Go where you have not gone before, do what you have not done before. Relocate before you suffocate.