Watch out for that comfort zone
Keeping ourselves emotionally safe makes sense, of course, but safety and contentment may come at the expense of personal growth.
Producer Brian Grazer recalls in his essay “Disrupting My Comfort Zone” about deciding to learn how to surf at age 45.
“Picture this scene: The north shore of Oahu—the toughest, most competitive surfing spot on the planet,” he writes. “Fourteen-foot swells. Twenty tattooed locals.“And me, 5-foot-8-inches of abject terror. What will get me first, I wondered, the next big wave or the guy to my right with the tattoo on his chest that reads ‘RIP’?
“They say that life is tough enough. But I guess I like to make things difficult on myself, because I do that all the time. Every day and on purpose. That’s because I believe in disrupting my comfort zone.
“Over the last 30 years, I’ve produced more than 50 movies and 20 television series. I’m successful and, in my business, pretty well known. I’m a guy who could retire to the golf course tomorrow where the worst that could happen is that my Bloody Mary is watered-down.
“So why do I continue to subject myself to this sort of thing? The answer is simple: Disrupting my comfort zone, bombarding myself with challenging people and situations — this is the best way I know to keep growing.
“And to paraphrase a biologist I once met, if you’re not growing, you’re dying.”
“Disrupting My Comfort Zone” by Brian Grazer is on the site thisibelieve.org, and in the book This I Believe.
An additional perspective is provided by personal achievement writer and coach Brian Tracy in his article The Indispensable Quality:
“Most people are seduced by the lure of the comfort zone. This can be likened to going out of a warm house on a cold, windy morning. The average person, when he feels the storm swirling outside his comfort zone, rushes back inside where it’s nice and warm.“But not the true leader. The true leader has the courage to step away from the familiar and comfortable and to face the unknown with no guarantees of success. It is this ability to ‘boldly go where no man has gone before’ that distinguishes you as a leader from the average person.”
[Also see Brian Tracy's titles on the development of human potential and personal effectiveness at Nightingale-Conant.]
A number of actors say they consciously avoid a comfort zone in considering scripts, and performing. Sandra Bullock says, “I don’t do anything anymore that feels safe. If it doesn’t scare the crap out of you, then you’re not doing the right thing…” [From the page Fear.]
Brain/mind researcher Dr. Jill Ammon-Wexler notes that the idea of a comfort zone “is actually only an illusion of safety.. in today’s rapidly changing world, what you call your comfort zone is being eroded beneath your feet as you read this.” [From her article Taming the Motivation Monster.]
But going outside our comfort zone can be very disrupting and scary, as Bullock notes. Writer Chris Green comments in his article The Thief of Fulfilment, “As soon as you start to consider making changes to your life, your subconscious mind will play the fear card. You are leaving the comfort zone and boy-oh-boy, does it not like it! Not one little bit!
“This is no joke. It happens to millions of people and this fear ruins their dreams for a better life. And here’s the danger of giving in to this fear: You can feel as though you’re stuck in a rut - kind of like life is passing you by.”
So maybe people of courage like those actors and producer Brian Grazer are on to something that can help any of us lead a bigger life.
Naomi Judd points out in her book Naomi’s Breakthrough Guide: 20 Choices to Transform Your Life, “Risk taking is a funny thing. Each time you risk, it becomes easier to do. That’s because each time you go for it, it further reinforces your self-esteem and offers concrete evidence that you can indeed succeed.”
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