When was the last time you stopped second-guessing and just went for it? Most of us overthink instead of act, and here’s one microstep to flip that.
The Hidden Cost of Comfort
If you've been staying in your comfort zone too long, there is a little known downside to this:
Staying in your comfort zone too long can make you less confident.
Why? You may start grasping onto the comfort zone with a tight grip. You'll sit and wonder about your potential, all the "what if's" and design stories that keep you safe. You miss out on the learning opportunities, feedback and growth you could experience.
Standing still can create resistance to change and growth. We learn the most when we experiment and have setbacks, but you don't get those lessons if you stay in your comfort zone.
Step onto Your Learning Edge
If you never tested your own capacity and potential, how will you know what's possible for you?
The space between your comfort zone and your potential is your Learning Edge.
It's the space where you begin testing what you're capable of, rather than staying with what you already know.
However, when you venture out onto your learning edge, three things happen.
You conquer your story and possibly even your fear.
You take a step in the direction you want.
You make your comfort zone a little bit bigger each time.
Example in practice
Want an example of this? Here's one:
A little over a year ago, I was considering launching a weekly newsletter on LinkedIn. I had already been active on LinkedIn for 17 years, and I was writing weekly. Writing about confidence and clarity in our careers was my comfort zone, both in posts and to my email subscribers. I had an unrealistic fear that writing a newsletter on LinkedIn would be so much bigger than my other efforts. My perfectionist side told me that it would be hard to do it with the quality I wanted.
So I reflected on how that thinking was holding me back and caught this silly story in progress. I realized that staying in my comfort zone felt scarier than trying something new. It wasn't aligned to hold this story any longer.
How I did it
Here’s how I broke the story…by having courage to step onto the learning edge and...
Setting a powerful intention to create a weekly message that sparks you to build clarity and confidence that build into lasting change.
Announcing this to my network during my Monday morning post.
Recording a short video to express my intention.
Brainstorming all the amazing ideas that I wanted to share, the "gems" that had resonated most with my network and followers.
I made my comfort zone a bit bigger by doing this. The fear began to fade because I was excited and motivated to put this learning into practice.
I felt liberated by giving myself permission to break through an invisible wall I had built with my own hands (and mind).
Your Turn: A 5-Minute Exercise
Now, it's your turn.
Write down one decision you’ve been spinning on. It's been coming up for you every once in a while. You can't decide what to do so you put it off for months or even years.
Set a 5-minute timer.
What's the silly story you hold about this?
Choose one next step or idea that moves you out of your comfort zone.
What do you notice about yourself when you give a decision a boundary?
Every step onto your learning edge gives you another opportunity to discover what you're capable of.
