Why do we stay in our comfort zone? Because our comfort zone is the stress-free zone we are used to. It’s what is familiar. It’s also the place where we are the most dissatisfied with our life.
When we stay in our comfort zone, we are forcing ourselves to stay stagnant. We’re afraid to change for fear of what could happen. Our brains are trained to keep us safe so we stay in our comfort zone instead of facing the unknown.
Staying in our comfort zone though can cause problems as well. Here are 8 reasons it’s wrong to stay in your comfort zone.
1. Not reaching your goals. If you stay in your comfort zone, you are less likely to follow through on reaching your goals. Your fear, procrastination, or any other excuse keeps you from taking action toward your goal.
2. Lack of growth. Staying in your comfort zone will probably keep you from growing into more than you are right now. You’ll always be stuck, never going forward and never growing and changing. You might end up not achieving your goals because you’re stuck on doing things the same way you’ve always done them, even when you’re not seeing any results. You don’t step out of your comfort zone to explore what you’re capable of doing or what you can accomplish.
3. No or lost passion. Staying in your comfort zone makes it harder for you to discover your passion. Your passion can only be found outside your comfort zone.
4. Feeling left behind. When you stay in your comfort zone you will feel like you are being left behind your colleagues and others you relate to. They might have been behind you in terms of your life or career but because they stepped out of their comfort zone, they have passed you by.
5. Settling for less. By continuing to live in your comfort zone, you push yourself to settle for less than you desire. You put your passion or things you love aside.
6. Your self-confidence lags. When you don’t move out of your comfort zone, you aren’t building the confidence you need to grow and take on new challenges.
7. Your health suffers. Sometimes when you are not getting out of your comfort zone you aren’t taking care of your health either. It can be from fear of going to the doctor, not wanting to change your routines, avoiding going to the gym for some reason such as being looked at or trying something different.
8. You’ll be unprepared for changes. You are inflexible and set in your ways when you stick to your comfort zone. Life can be difficult, throwing all kinds of things at you. Things can happen that will pull you out of your comfort zone even if you don’t want to. Staying in your comfort zone keeps you from being open to new possibilities.
The reasons we stay in our comfort zone are the same ones that we should be using to step out of our comfort zone. Staying your zone may feel comfortable but it’s wrong to limit yourself to settling for mediocrity.
