Leaving your comfort zone is scary because if you venture out, you'll feel anxious. It's basic psychology. Even the thought of leaving your comfort zone or circle of fear induces stress and sweat. Your comfort zone may prevent you from pursuing your dreams, winning the promotion, having a better relationship, or living the life you want….but it doesn't have to.
Comfort zones prevent us from accepting exciting opportunities, asking attractive people out for coffee, inviting the neighbors over for dinner, or going on vacations. They lock us into our tried-and-true ways of living; they don't allow us to explore our potential.
Comfort zones are safe.
Your comfort zone is whatever you're most familiar with. It includes your family, friends, house, income level, spouse, or lover. Take your family, for instance. If your childhood was filled with abuse, conflict, or pain you'll feel more comfortable in the same place in adulthood – even if you have the opportunity to live in a loving environment. In fact, you may reject healthy partners and living situations in favor of what you're familiar with. If you grew up with abuse, you've learned what to expect: yelling, hitting, silence, accusations.
Leaving your comfort zone is hard because you know what to expect there. You know how to deal with life in your comfort zone.
Here's an example: if you grew up learning that making people happy is right and rewarding, then you'll try to please as many people as possible. That's one theory of how adult "people-pleasers" evolve: they were rewarded for doing the right thing by others, and now they can't say no without guilt or fear. Adult people-pleasers learn to avoid doing what they want because they're bound by pleasing others. The comfort zone for people-pleasers saying yes despite their real feelings and desires.
Leaving your comfort zone is scary.
It's somewhat ironic that living in a healthy way causes anxiety because it's new, and living in the old unhealthy or even abusive way is comforting. However, it makes sense when you think of it in terms of familiarity versus new territory (old and comfortable versus new and scary).
If you found Leaving Your Comfort Zone interesting, you'll like Oh! The Places You'll Go
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