Is my ‘Comfort Zone’ hurting me more than it’s keeping me ‘safe’?

What if my ‘comfort zone’ is hurting me more than it’s keeping me safe?

For a long time I thought that stepping outside my comfort zone was somehow dangerous. Now I know that's BS.

I’ve realized that the boundaries of my ‘comfort zone’ are more like an invisible fence, constructed by my thoughts. For a while I thought that edge was as far as I could go without experiencing inevitably dangerous consequences. Key word: thought.

What a pleasant surprise when I came to find the ‘consequences’ of stepping outside of my comfort zone turned out to be quite rewarding!

1) my comfort zone got bigger, 2) my confidence grew, 3) I was approaching challenges with less self doubt, more courage and 4) dare I say, I was having fun..!?

Letting all this sink in has sent empowering, freeing energy into areas of my life that I had in the ‘off limits’ category.

For example: negotiating a higher wage in a job offer.

Check! And a higher paycheck

After crossing the threshold of my comfort zone basically unscathed, I started to get curious.

Where else I have been ‘staying comfortable’?

Where else am I letting a set of thoughts intimidate or prevent me from taking action?

The ‘invisible fence’ that surrounds my comfort zone didn’t disappear, but I engage with it differently now.

I’ve changed the way I think about it - IT didn’t change, my thoughts about it did.

In the past, I would’ve been far too uncomfortable to even write this (and especially to ‘say it out loud’ by sharing it!). I was easily wrapped up in my thoughts about what you’d think.

Do you ever find yourself wrapped up in YOUR thoughts about what THEY will think?

Being able to recognize my familiar, limiting thoughts, seriously question them and begin to change my relationship to those thoughts has been one of the best personal challenges I’ve taken on so far.

How would you describe your relationship to your thoughts?

With Love,

Whitney