Reasons to Push Past Your Comfort Zone

Pushing past my comfort zone is about challenging my fears and re-defining what's possible for myself. For example, rather than avoid an uncomfortable conversation, how could I change my attitude towards it so that I can both have the conversation and have it feel comfortable instead?

I find little exercises like this useful for thinking outside the box. It's easy to get set in our ways and believe that certain people and situations will never change. I still struggle with that like everyone else, but it doesn't mean we don't take the initiative to create change.

Applying this to social skills, how can we challenge ourselves to push past our comfort zones in a positive and productive fashion?

One of the first things I do is to challenge my assumptions, especially what other people or society at large may think about what I say, do or feel. It's not an excuse to fly off the handle but to re-think how the idea of what others may think might be influencing your behavior.

For example, I dislike sitting in traffic, like big time. It feels like life is passing without me, and I'm sitting there doing nothing. Nothing. And to make matters worse, I'm contributing to green house gas emissions by sitting in an inefficient, idling car. (sorry, I write about sustainability on my other website so here's my chance to rant).

So how do I turn this around into something positive? First, challenge the assumption of having to go home after work. There's no rule stating that we have to go home after work, sit on the couch and drink beer all night (for us guys, anyway - women may have a different routine).

Rather than sit in traffic then sit at home, I ignore what most people do after work and choose to go to the gym instead. After that, I might meet up with friends near my office or hit the local bookstore or cafe to get some work done. I might even run errands or go grocery shopping.

That's all productive time while the freeways are clogging with traffic. It's a simple solution stemming from re-thinking the assumption that we have to go home after work.

Another reason to challenge our fears and assumptions is that it helps us take the bull by the horns. It's like accomplishing a long sought-after goal - it's empowering and reminds us of our true potential. When we know our fear, challenge it and overcome it, then other mountains start to look like molehills too.

Finally, challenging fears helps keep the mind flexible - we think more often outside the box and come up with creative ways to situations we want to put in our favor. The best way is to start small so if you don't floss enough then what's stopping you from doing it? Challenge the small, nagging things first then work up to fears that may be holding you back from bigger, better things.