How To Push Yourself To Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you struggle to fit into a social setting or opt-out of certain activities because “it just isn’t your thing”? One may never know when an opportunity presents itself, so being able to step out of your comfort zone whenever necessary is never a bad thing.

People usually fall into a place where they stagnate called “Comfort Zone” and avoid undertaking anything new. In trying new things, people are afraid of their actual beliefs clashing with the new or the unknown, putting them into uneasy situations and over things they have no control over.

Before I started my current journey, I was actually an engineer. My job paid well and I was doing okay, but I knew that there was more to life than what I was pursuing.

I took a huge leap and shifted my focus to sales.

Sales is very different from engineering, there was no real rule book and the approach differs from person to person.

It was nothing like I’ve experienced in engineering.

I struggled for a while, but I eventually got to where I wanted to be, leading an organisation with a stellar team.

How did I do it? I really pushed myself and worked on tackling the challenge

Here are some ways you can push yourself.

Make a Change To Your Daily Routine

Making a change to your daily routine does not need to be as hard as it sounds. In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. Habits are basically about consistency.

For example, allocating a certain time to go for a morning walk to clear your head can boost your mood. Managing your finances can be made into a habit by doing daily expense tracking and monthly summaries. There are many opportunities to change, try leaving your house earlier, park a few blocks from work and take a walk.

Do you always watch the morning and evening newscasts, at specified times? Skip it. Use the time to read a book or listen to music. Try a Book on Tape or Language Learning Tape during your commute.

Commit to Learning

I wanted to upgrade myself and expose myself to new things, essentially taking the step out of my comfort zone, but sometimes I fall short on my commitments. When this happens, we need to remember your deeper Why. If you’re learning how to code, it cannot be just another thing on your endless to-do list. Try remembering the deeper reason you committed to this — maybe it’s to serve people you care deeply about. Write out why you care so much about this commitment, and put that somewhere you can’t miss it.

Faced my Fear

I am a pretty introverted guy, I prefer keeping private and not talk as much. However, in sales, you need to talk- it is important to have conversations and build relationships so that you find the right solution for your clients. I told myself that in order to succeed in the Financial Advisory industry, I had to face my fear and work on breaking this barrier.

The truth is, I was not afraid of sales, I was just afraid of how people saw me, once I learnt that it takes a lot of courage to care about the right things and not everything, I put a lot less pressure on myself and found my footing.

Take up Mentorship Responsibilities

This one was not easy, I found myself struggling and in many ways, I was not an expert-how was I qualified to teach others? I learnt along the way that just because I may not be an expert, it does not mean that my experience was for nought. Sharing what I’ve been through can help others relate to the situation and listening to their struggles can help you see things from a different perspective. More importantly, this role demands a certain level of accountability, encouraging you to do your best and to keep moving forward.

As a manager or team leader, you may find that delegating work is something that has the “fear factor” attached to it. So, it is only natural that you prefer to work on things yourself. Mentor someone by assigning tasks and helping them work on themselves.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with accepting that you like being comfortable, but should the time come where you feel trapped in a role or that you’ve started to stagnate, you’re going to want to step outside your self-imposed box to pursue new opportunities-even if it means taking a big risk.

Lean into what life has to offer and just do it!