Venturing out of your comfort zone

#47/100

“By leaving your comfort zone behind and taking a leap of faith into something new, you find out who you are truly capable of becoming.” 

-Anonymous

Comfort zone for me is similar to that cozy little corner of my home where I practically live in. While out of my comfort zone, the only thing I do is strive hard to crawl back into it. I remember when I had joined my current workplace, the first 3 months were absolutely horrible. I had no friends, ate lunch alone, counted every millisecond till the end of the day and just prayed that the weekends would never end. My life got better after I made a friend there and had someone to talk to everyday.

So what’s the deal with venturing out of our comfort zone? It’s so scary, boring and noticeably uncomfortable. As humans we hate the feeling of being uncomfortable with anything. We like to be prepared and aware of our surroundings. Surprises are welcome only with birthday gifts or holidays, any other kind would rather shock us than be pleasant. Also man is a social animal, as repeatedly taught to us in school. Being solo is best reserved for trips. I haven’t come across a single person who would prefer living under isolation their entire life. So every new venture or event forces us to leave our known environment and deal with uncomfortable interactions, awkward silences and negative mind chatter.

That makes the comfort zone a gold mine, why would any one in their right mind venture out of it? The answer is “growth“. Growth in our thoughts, behavior, actions and personality. In the first 3 extremely awkward and boring months of my current workplace, I forced myself to initiate conversations with random colleagues in my department just to have people to talk to. Now this was a huge deal for the shy, introverted person like me. I had barely anyone to talk to in office and no one in my team, this was my last resort to kill the 9 excruciatingly boring hours in my office. Turns out, now I can easily talk to strangers (barring the slight inertia and anxiety in the beginning which I guess is unavoidable). I engaged in conversations with like minded people and found out about the amazing weight loss transformation and fitness journey of one of my colleagues. Her success story motivated me daily to work hard on my own weight loss journey. My weight loss journey has been the source of my current level of confidence and happiness in life. It also helped me deal with my anxiety and low self esteem issues.

Though it’s a difficult task, stepping out of our comfort zone is the best way to fulfill all the goals we’ve set for yourself and the key to changing our life for the better. Let’s get it!