Episode 314: Are You Stuck in Your Comfort Zone or Trying to Leave It?

Full Episode Transcription:

All right, y’all. I have a question for you. Are you sitting cozy in your comfort zone or are you actively trying to get out of it? Whether you’re religiously working your 9 to 5, or you’re trying to get your virtual assistant business going but you’re just feeling stuck and like really nervous about the change, it’s time to get really honest about where you’re at and where you want to go. So in this episode, I’m breaking down the questions that you need to ask yourself to determine if you’re stuck in your comfort zone or if you’re actively working on trying to leave it. I’m also going to give you tangible tips on how to break free from that comfort zone and work on helping your dreams come true.

So let’s go ahead and dive on in. First, I want you to reflect on where you’re at in your current situation. So some prompts that can help you reflect on this is, are you content with your current job or do you feel a sense of restlessness and desire for change? Do you find yourself settling for like quote unquote good enough and have stopped pushing yourself to achieve more in your current situation? Are your days predictable and routine and how does that make you feel? It’s okay if you like routine but if you don’t, can you change that? Now some ways to know if you’re stuck in your comfort zone. If you’re generally content secure and resistant to change or new or new challenges, you might be stuck in that comfort zone. But if you’re working on leaving your comfort zone, that probably means you’re expressing a desire for growth. You feel a bit unsatisfied or stagnant. You’re open to exploring new opportunities, and you may be actively trying to leave that comfort zone. So I want you to ask yourself, what is your reaction to risk versus uncertainty?

Some prompts to help you reflect on this are, how do you react when you’re facing uncertainty or the prospect of taking risks in your personal and professional life? Do you typically fear change? Why or why not? Now ways to know if you’re stuck in your comfort zone here are if you tend to avoid risks, you fear failure, you prefer the predictability of your current situation, you’re probably stuck in that comfort zone. But if you’re leaving your comfort zone, you’re probably embracing challenges, you’re willing to take calculated risks, you see failure as a learning opportunity. You’re likely trying to leave your comfort zone. So I want you to ask yourself. What would I do if I were being more courageous? And I also want you to ask how will Inaction or not doing anything and staying in that comfort zone Cost me one year from now if I do nothing to change where I’m at. I also want you to ask yourself, where is my fear of failure causing me to overestimate the size of the risk and to underestimate myself and hold myself back from taking risks that would serve me? I’m not saying, you know, go quit your 9 to 5 tomorrow. That’s not what I’m saying at all. But are you taking steps and small risks to help you get to where you want to go of leaving your 9 to 5 in like the next year or so?

Now, you also need to reflect on your response to opportunities that come your way. So when you’re presented with new opportunities or challenges, do you feel excited and motivated or do you feel more hesitant and resistant? Do you regularly put yourself in situations where you will acquire new skills or knowledge, meet new people, gain different perspectives and feedback?

If you’re If you’re stuck in that comfort zone, you’re probably resistant to change. You might avoid new opportunities and prefer the familiar. That means you’re probably stuck, okay? But if you’re actively working on leaving that comfort zone, you might feel a sense of excitement or eagerness when presented with new possibilities. You might actively seek out new challenges. You’re open to growth and you’re working on stepping out of the box you’ve been in. So these questions that I’ve asked you throughout this episode, this is really a time for you to do some self reflection and provide yourself with some insights into your mindset regarding your comfort zone. Now, this might not be, you know, mutually exclusive. You may exhibit characteristics of the comfort zone and trying to leave it at different times. The goal is of this episode is to, Just to encourage you to be aware of where you’re at and to help you identify where you currently stand in relation to your comfort zone. So what can you actually do if you’re stuck in your comfort zone or if you’re trying to leave it? Visualizing your success is something that will help you so incredibly much, it’s not even funny. I want you to really think what is success for you? Success for some people, you know, is replacing their nine to five income and being able to work from home, but that’s not what it is for everybody.

And it’s not even always about what it looks like, but what it feels like. So how do you know you’re being successful? What does your life look like? That should be your guiding light as you work towards your dreams. The next thing you can do to help you move out of that comfort zone is to set new goals. So I want you to set goals that are a little bit of a stretch for you. They’re not super easy because if they’re super easy, you’re still probably in that comfort zone. So find some goals that are a stretch for you and find that balance between Peace and contentedness with goal setting and achievement. Another way you can make sure you’re moving out of that comfort zone is to make sure that you’re learning continuously. So you should be learning all of your life. And if you’re not learning something, you’re probably staying pretty stagnant. So ask yourself, what are some new skills that you could learn?

What is some new knowledge that you could acquire? Maybe you can attend a workshop. Maybe you can take an online course. Maybe you read a book or listen to a podcast. What is something that you want to learn, and what is a new skill that you want to hone in on? Work towards that goal. You can also make sure you’re moving out of your comfort zone by actively networking with people and seeking feedback from them. So, how can you connect with new people, both personally and professionally? How can you put yourself in the position of starting to engage with other people? How can you get feedback from other people, share ideas?
How can you encourage one another? Finding someone who is in the same position as you, either stuck or actively leaving. for listening! Just getting to be inspired by people and having someone that you can have accountability with and check in with each other. That is so, so crucial and something that I think every person needs.

Another way you can work on actively moving out of your comfort zone is to celebrate your small wins. So how can you acknowledge and celebrate all of your achievements, even the little ones? How can you recognize yourself for showing up, doing the things you didn’t think you could do, doing the things that you were scared of? What does that look like? So, you can just do, you know, a little celebration, like, maybe if you hit a big goal, you get to go, I don’t know, buy a new shirt, or go get a massage. I love, like, every time we, I have a launch, I set myself up with massage after, cause it’s just, like, my reward for all that work I did. Okay, so, what can you do to celebrate those small accomplishments? It’s really important too to track those goals and celebrate those small wins so that on the days when you feel like you’re not making any progress, you have evidence that that’s not true, that you are moving towards your dreams and your goals. So I hope this episode helped you. I really want to encourage you to just take it step by step when it comes to expanding your comfort zone. You don’t need to make a ton of big changes all at once, but by consistently pushing your boundaries, you’re creating space for you to grow into the person that God is calling you to become. So make sure you celebrate the small victories along the way and just start taking one step at a time. Stay committed and don’t shy away from any challenges that come your way.