8 Tips To Get Outside Of  Your Comfort Zone

One of the biggest things that can hold you back from succeeding at the things we want to accomplish is being stuck in your comfort zone. When you stick with what is comfortable, you don’t challenge yourself. You do the same things every single day pretty much – and guess what happens? You get the same results.

Unless you’ve already accomplished everything you’ve dreamed of and you have all the money you could ever use, your comfort zone can be a dangerous place. It holds you back from new experiences, meeting new people that can enrich your life, and making dreams come true.

If you feel like you’re just not getting where you want to be or if you are bored and feeling like your life is stagnant, getting out of your comfort zone is your first step. It can change your life in so many ways. It can make you a better person and it will definitely make your life more interesting.

Here are 8 tips to help you get outside your comfort zone.

 1. Mix It Up

Most people fall into routines very easily. You might get up at the same time of day, eat the same breakfast, take the same route to work, have lunch with the same people in your office…the sameness goes on and on. Why? Because it is easy. It requires less thought. That is why they call them routines.

Stop doing everything the same. If you normally get up at 7 am, start going to bed an hour earlier and getting up at 6 am. What will you do with that extra time? You might find that you love walking in the early morning hours or you might take your dog for an extra walk or you could spend that time indulging in a new hobby. Try taking a new route to work once a week. You could discover a new park worth checking out or a restaurant you’ve never been to or maybe you’ll find your dream house.

Think about the routines you have in your life and then change them up!

2. Face Your Fears

Our fears can hold us back from some great experiences and when the opportunity to do something comes up you might find yourself saying no because of them. Start by making a list of your fears and then tackle them one by one. Beside each fear, write down what you could be missing out because you are afraid.

What are you afraid of? Talking in public, spiders, heights? Whatever it is, you can get past it. Think about what it is about those fears that scares you and then figure out how you can address it and get past that fear. When it gets hard, think about the things you could do if that fear wasn’t there.

3. Do Things You’re Not Good At

No one likes to look foolish or silly but you miss out on some great experiences because of that. You don’t have to be great at something to enjoy doing it. Join a softball team, get involved in a flash mob, dance down the street, or paint. Enjoy the process of whatever you are doing just because it is fun.

When you learn that you can do things that you are not great at you’ll be more willing to try new things that you don’t know if you’re good at or not yet.

4. Go Somewhere Where You Know No One

It’s good to meet new people but if you always go to places and events with a friend or someone you know, it’s hard to really get to know someone new. Try joining a club or an activity without a friend. Go to an event like a wine tasting or join a sports team. When you don’t know anyone, you usually end up talking to someone else that is there by themselves. You might never see them again but they could also be the person that wants to invest in a business just like yours or they might happen to have an extra ticket to a concert you have wanted to go to.

5. Give Someone Else Control or Take Control

Most people are either the kind of person that takes control or lets others take control. What do you do most often? Now, do the opposite. If you’re the person that always takes the lead in team activities, step back and let someone else do it. Experience being a follower. If you normally let others take the lead, step up and take your turn.

6. Go On a Trip To a Place You’ve Never Been

Need a vacation? Why not pick a spot that you’ve never been and you don’t know anyone. Go by yourself. Don’t make a single plan. Figure it all out when you get there.

Doing things without plans is scary at first but the more you do it the more you will learn to think quickly and find ways to get what you need. Amazing things can happen when you don’t have plans. You can discover new places, meet awesome people, and have experiences that may never occur if you’d planned out your trip.

7. Enter a Competition You Know You Can’t Win

Often, people compete purely for the purpose of winning and they don’t enjoy the activity as much as they would. Try competing when you know there is no way you can win. When you know you can’t win, you slow down and are able to focus on the pleasure of the activity. Enter a race just to enjoy the feeling of running with a thousand other people. Enter a cake making competition just to be creative and see what others come up with. So what if you’re not going to win? It can be more fun when you know it isn’t going to happen!

8. Reveal Something Personal Publicly

One of the things that almost everyone has a hard time doing is revealing something personal. But when you let go of things like that and open yourself up to others, you might be surprised at what can happen. You can help others by sharing your experience. You can meet other people that have been through the same thing as you. Put yourself out there and start a personal blog or a video channel.