Brett Kievit

Why I like to go out of my comfort zone

The idea of doing something that is not comfortable may seem scary or demotivating. But I found out that after I went a lot out of my comfort zone, it’s actually quite enjoyable, it’s like a skill that you can develop and you can get better at it.

When I was younger I liked my comfort zone very much (obviously), but life can get boring if you stay in your comfort zone too much. As I got older I tried to push myself to go outside my comfort zone, this helped me to develop myself in all kinds of aspects.

For example, I started going to the gym more and started running. I tried to learn new things like playing guitar or building websites. But the one thing I struggled with the most were my social skills. In new social environments I was quite shy and found it really hard to open myself up to people and start connecting with strangers. Only the thought of meeting new people gave me the chills, and I always played like a thousand scenarios in my head of how the conversation could go and what I need to say.

Image: iYARN

During the years I made a habit of going out of my comfort zone. I put myself in an uncomfortable situation a lot of times, and every time it got a little easier and more enjoyable to do. I’m now at the point where I really enjoy meeting new people. Instead of dreading these kinds of situations, I look forward to it. 

This phenomenon can also been seen in my running adventure. I trained a whole year for a marathon. I started out as a beginner runner, not really enjoying running. And after one year of consistent development with step-by-step progress, I now really enjoy running and ran a full marathon a couple of months ago.

These kinds of situations thought me that stepping out of your comfort zone is scary and uncomfortable, but it has great benefits in the end. The journey of expanding the comfort zone is also very important, this is where you get to know yourself and really learn the lessons that you bring with you for the rest of your life.

Every time you go out of your comfort zone, your comfort zone expands. The search for expanding and learning new things never stops, and I hope it indeed never will. Because if I want to grow as a person and develop myself in all different aspects, I need to push myself to be the best version of myself. I don’t want to live a dull life where all I do is sit comfortably inside my comfort zone. 

Stepping out of your comfort zone can be done in all aspects of life: Exercising, school, work, hobbies, skills, etc. It’s necessary to develop yourself and be the best version of you. And yes, a lot of times it’s hard to push yourself, but in the end it’s always worth it. The world can offer so much, but we need to push ourselves to receive it.

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