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Ahhh, the comfort zone.

Like putting on a new pair of socks, slipping in to your well worn slippers or snuggling up in your ‘fat pants’. It’s safe! It’s warm! It’s…. a major road block between you and the life you actually want to be living ????

Here’s the truth, if you’re not uncomfortable in some capacity, you’re not growing. You’re on auto pilot! Which is cool, until you recognise that you’re living the same day on repeat year after year and calling it a life ???? yep, we went there.

Growth and change come from pushing our boundaries.

Discomfort in the context we’re talking about – trying something new, asking for a raise, putting your hand up for a promotion, pitching a new idea in a meeting, etc – is largely psychological before it presents physically (knees weak, arms heavy – you know the feels).

So this leads up to our biggest tip when it comes to finding certainty in the uncertainty:

Categorise your comfort zone into 3 distinct sub-zones:

Zone 1: Comfort Zone

yeah, this bad boy gets no more air time. We’re all too familiar with it as it is ????

Zone 2: Stretch Zone

Oooh, hello zone that seems a little uncomfy yet leaves me with a sense of accomplishment with minimal output. Sure, your hands might feel a little clammy, your heart rate may rise like you’ve just sprinted up a flight of stairs… but do you feel like you’re going to die? No. You still feel in control, you know once you brace yourself with hands on knees for a hot sec before you walk out of the stairwell – that you’ll be cool, calm and collected. Yup, this zone is officially your favourite. More on this soon.

Zone 3: Panic Zone

This bad boy means business cue the ‘Jaws’ theme song

This is some top tier, fear inducing nonsense that we need not let into our little brain space. Obviously it’s going to look different for everyone – for me, personally? Swimming with sharks. Being abducted. Driving behind trucks carrying logs (thanks final destination three ????). You get the picture, this zone is not a fun time. Think skull and cross bones vibes ☠️

So now that you’re familiar with the zones – this is how you utilise them to your advantage (the juicy part).

Step 1 – Categorise accordingly.

The biggest mistake people make is that they place everything outside of their comfort zone in the panic zone and completely forget that the stretch zone exists… don’t be that person.

Step 2 – Utilise your new knowledge to get closer to your goals!!

Start with you big panic zone goals – for instance, speaking on stage to 10,000 people. Now ask yourself, what would a stretchy step in that direction be? Perhaps it’s offering to deliver a presentation at work, or an even smaller step could be speaking up and contributing in the next meeting… or being brutally honest when you fill out your next Employee Feedback Survey. How can you start to use your voice NOW?

Step 3 – Clock the evidence

Arguably the most important step! Be sure to acknowledge and recognise the effort over everything else when operating in the stretch zone. This will create a positive association with discomfort, by focusing on celebrating your stretch before critiquing your result. The only way to change an internal belief, such as “I can’t…” is to provide new, solid evidence that single handedly proves it wrong.

So take this information and have fun in your stretch zone! Knowing that as you continue to stretch, what was once a ‘stretch zone’ category, will quickly move into your comfort zone category with repetition. It’s the cheat code for getting to your goals and overcoming your fears – remember when you were younger playing the sims and got your hands on the cheats? Yup, use it like that baby (aka: rapidly implement!!!)

Say, whaaaaaat?!

We know. You’re welcome.

Happy stretching ????????‍♀️

#mindfluencer