Let us embrace our comfort zone and move beyond

Let us embrace our comfort zone and move beyond.

A place where I feel safe, confident, sure about myself, happy, calm, secure and stress-free. In there, I know who I am and what I do. This is my comfort zone, which I celebrate every single day. What would I do without it?

My comfort zone helps me wake up each morning without feeling terrified of what’s coming ahead. It is like a crutch that supports my steps so I can move forward toward my goals. Without it, I would painfully stagger, sweat, pant and eventually give up. I would be wan after having depleted all my energy and will for life.

Comfort zones exist to protect us. Sometimes a bit too much, though. As necessary and warm as they can be, they can also be dangerous. Indeed, our safe place can prevent us from trying new things, reaching complex or challenging goals and building experiences. 

I hear people encouraging us to break out of our comfort zone and jump straight into the jungle called life. That is scary! I like my safe place, but I am happy and ready to move beyond so I can grow.

In fact, in collaboration with John Dodson, Robert Yerkes, an esteemed American psychologist, introduced the Yerkes-Dodson Law, which refers to “optimal anxiety” to achieve “optimal performance”. In essence what Yerkes states is that we need stress in life to push as achieve our aims. This is the productive stress that keeps us aroused and promotes our journey to goal-achievement. 

On the contrary, very high levels of anxiety bring about the opposite results which impede our performance and thrust us back to our comfort zone. This level of stress cannot benefit and serve our personal growth.

Things I achieved by moving beyond my comfort zone

• I moved to Wales for my Master’s degree
• I followed the love of my life in Berlin
• I participated in a 10k run event 
• I got a dog, the other love of my life
• I gave birth to an incredible human being
• I moved to a better working environment
• I drove, with Christoph, 3000km with a 5 month old on the back seat and our dog in the trunk.
• I started arranging appointments via phone in German

Comfort zones are not bad. It is comforting to have them and knowing that, every time we step out of them and move beyond, they remain there waiting to warmly embrace us again and again. They are like a safe harbour; does not cease to exist, even in the most windy days.