Challenge your comfort zone – Why??
It was early this summer. The idea had been growing inside me for a long time and I was finally ready to take action. I wanted to challenge my comfort zone, to make it grow. I knew how good it feels for me to make breakthroughs and I went on a deliberate hunt for that high.
There was a specific area I had in mind. I’d tried it before but not gotten the results I was after just yet. I knew it could be done, I’d seen plenty of people do it before, and I was working myself up to the challenge. I’m talking about overcoming my fear of heights.
Two summers earlier I’d gone on that same mission and gotten a taste of the bliss but not gotten the lasting effect I believed could be there. That time I was thrilled with actually having gone on the free fall ride and survived to tell about it 😉
This time I wanted to conquer that ride forever! I’d seen people go up and sit completely relaxed, arms and legs stretched out in midair and just relax into the feeling of falling straight down to certain death. It looked so peaceful. So trusting. So cool. I wanted that feeling and I wanted to prove to myself that I’d grown since the last try. I’d spent two years ignoring the thoughts about that amusement park when they surfaced. Now was the time to Step up!
You don’t have to do it alone
I asked some of my friends to join me, with different results; One said “Oh, this Saturday? Oh no I can’t that day… or any other day of my life!” *smile* I believe she’s not that into heights either. Another one said “Sure but I don’t see the point really, it’s just scary, why do you want to put yourself through that?”. Eventually I asked a friend that, although I didn’t know it at the time, LOVES amusement parks. She said “Hell yes!” and also got really enthusiastic about the comfort zone challenge in itself.
Maria and me at Gröna Lund
We booked a day two weeks later and I spent every morning meditation picturing myself leaning into that free fall ride, trusting the machinery and giving myself over to whatever was meant to happen. I was SO scared going up that first time. Giddy with adrenaline. I looked only upwards into the sky. The first time was a total shock – again. The second time was about as scary. The third time, just as we were slowing down at the bottom I got a sense of that feeling I was after. The fourth time I got it and on the fifth I was really enjoying the fall. We spent hours going on other amazing rides I’d not even considered before.
Thank YOU Maria! 🙂
What does your comfort zone look like?
We all have our comfort zone. Within certain situations, places and with certain people we feel safe. Everything we know, everything that we can predict and control lies within our zone of comfort. This is where we feel secure and where we can be “ourselves”. Outside of what is known lies the unknown. The unknown could mean danger but the unknown also contain everything we want and need that we don’t already have.
Think about it. If something you really wanted was inside your comfort zone then you would already have it. To be able to reach new goals, you need to learn new skills and new levels of thinking, you need to get outside of your comfort zone. You need to push through the discomfort of doing things that you’re not used to.
The good news is that getting out of your comfort zone can be practiced. You can get better and better at doing it comfortably. Eventually you will start to crave the experience of pushing through the boundary that’s holding you back from new things. Even better is the fact that it doesn’t really matter where you start to push that boundary, you can start with something easy and you will still get the momentum up to where pushing the bigger things forward will seem relatively manageable.
Shifting my identity
My experience this summer, conquering that amusement park, shifted my identity in two ways:
- I went from someone who was scared of that free fall ride. From being someone who would rather tell stories about how ridiculous it was for people to go on such crazy searches for an adrenaline rush to someone who now enjoys life more and will pay good money on amusement parks to get that incredible thrill.
- I proved to myself that I can take control over my core values and belief structures – my identity. I am now someone who not only knows the theory about the possibility of changing my identity, I’ve now lived that change and therefore proven that I am someone who actually make it happen.
In an earlier blog post I’ve written about “the circle of beliefs and results”. Humans lead with their beliefs and values and your identity is made up of exactly that; beliefs and values. Who you perceive yourself to be will determine what you will do and act on. Challenging your comfort zone is one way to prove a new value you want to instill. You commit to a new belief, go out and act accordingly to then get the reference experience to back that belief and make it true.
Do you want to open up your life to new experiences?
What is something your inner voice is telling you that “you can’t do”? What would happen if you just went out and did it? Your wiring for your identity would fight you like crazy but eventually the fact that you just did it will win over and you will shift into someone who does new things.
What would be something small you could start with?
What would be possible for you if you pushed your comfort zone a little or even a lot?
How would your children benefit from seeing you trying and learning new things?
