Stepping out of your comfort zone can be a frightening move to make; I’ve been there. While on your journey of self-discovery, it’s crucial to remember that the true sense of living exists in places of discomfort. If you want to push the needle in your self-growth, you’ll need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable—plain and simple. But there are other reasons to step out of your comfort zone, which I’ll help you understand.
In this article, we’ll cover one of the pillars of self-discovery—comfort zones—which I created with the goal to help you become the best version of yourself. If you want to take it up another notch, get on the waitlist below for my forthcoming book coming out on June 9, 2021, You Deserve This Sh!t.
Here are seven reasons stepping out of your comfort zone can help your self-discovery.
1. Taking Risks Promotes Self-growth
Stepping out of your comfort zone is a risk. Now, don’t get me wrong, taking risks is by no means easy, even if you already discovered yourself and have confidence. Risks presents failure, and we usually want to avoid failure because we think it’s a step backward. But really, failure can propel you forward by teaching us lessons we need to grow in our life.
When you step out of your comfort zone, you take a risk because you are no longer in a “behavioral space where your activities and behaviors fit a routine and pattern that minimizes stress and risk,” as defined by Lifehacker. However, outside of that behavioral space, the challenges you will face will help you learn more about yourself, promote self-growth, and require you to think of creative ways to overcome whatever comes your way.
2. Find What You're Passionate About
Stepping out of your comfort zone allows you to try new things and explore your own curiosity. It breaks down the barriers of your normal routine, forcing you to dive into hobbies that you may have never done before. When you live outside of your comfort zone, you’re more easily able to find your passions because you will be asked to do things you’ve never done before, which usually leads to finding something you love and can’t live without.
Let me put it in perspective. At one time in my life, I was a terrible writer and I hated it with just about every ounce of me. It wasn’t until I stepped out of my comfort zone and went on a soul-searching, three-month solo backpacking trip that I learned writing was something I loved. On that trip, I wrote in a journal every day, and I slowly found that writing was one of my biggest passions. Now it’s my career.
3. Helps Cope With Change
Change is not easy, I think we all can agree on that. It makes us feel unsettled, uncomfortable, and uncertain of what’s to come in the future. Stepping out of your comfort zone changes your life immediately. And you have no other way to deal with it then learn to cope with the change.
Change is something that will never go away in your life. Along your journey of self-discovery, you will continue to face transitions that challenge you. As you step out your comfort zone more, you will become more comfortable (ironic, I know) with dealing with change and inviting it into your life.
Change has been made out to be a negative part of life, but it shouldn’t be. If you welcome it into your life, you will likely learn that it’s life’s way of showing you where you need to shift to grow into the person you’ve always dreamed of being.
4. You'll Begin to Find Yourself
Finding yourself is a constant uphill battle, until now. Stepping out of your comfort zone will help you find who you were always meant to be. You will learn more about what you love, what you hate, and what you’re passionate about. You will be able to see your life as if it was three dimensional, giving you a well-rounded perspective of who you are now and who you want to become.
As cliché as it sounds, on my three-month solo backpacking trip, I found myself. Up until that point, I had no clue who I was or who I wanted to become; I didn’t feel confident in my own skin. The second I built up the courage to step out of my comfort zone, my entire life opened up and I began to understand my soul in a way that propelled me on my journey of self-discovery.
5. Puts You In the Driver Seat of Your Life
When you live within your comfort zone, you let life pass by in front of your eyes and happen to you; you serve your life instead of your life serving you. In other words, it’s a very passive way to live, making it challenging to step into your power and become the best version of yourself.
Stepping out of your comfort zone puts the keys to your own life in your hands. You’ll gain the confidence, courage, and audacity to go after anything in life. Your actions start to align with exactly who you want to become and not who life or society thinks you should become. If you want to be in control of your life and design the trajectory of your path, step out of your comfort zone and hop in the driver’s seat.
6. Up-levels Your Journey of Self-discovery
If you’re looking to take your journey of self-discovery to the next level, there’s no way you’ll do that within your comfort zone. Sorry for the brashness, but it’s the truth. When you build up the courage to step out of your comfort zone, your self-discovery will open up and doors of opportunity will begin to present themselves.
If you stay within your comfort zone, you will never change challenges, transitions, or situations that require you to level up and become the best version of yourself. Discovering yourself requires you to challenge yourself with uncomfortable situations that make you evolve into a higher version of yourself and move to your next stepping stone.
7. Fuels Your Life With Confidence
While you may feel wish-washy about stepping out of your comfort zone in the beginning, the more you do it, the more confident you will become. You’ll see all the benefits it provides not only to your journey of self-discovery, but also your life. When you experience its positive effect, you will understand that the best place to exist is outside your comfort zone.
Say goodbye to the days of doing the same old routine because it makes you feel safe, and say hello to living a life that’s defined by taking risks that catapult you further along in your journey. You got this.
Bottom Line
Stepping out of your comfort zone is a crucial decision you need to make if you truly want to discover yourself. If you choose to live within your safety zone, you will never achieve your greatest and highest good. I challenge you to do at least one thing this week that’s outside of your comfort zone, and then see the positive effect it has on your life.
How can you step out of your comfort zone today? Let me know in the comments below.
