Don't be trapped within your "comfort zone"

Many people don’t like to leave their comfort zone, because the comfort zone makes them feel cozy and comfortable.

Have you ever felt this kind of internal push-pull going on in your life? Perhaps you want to soar, but find yourself stuck in the mud. Have you ever wanted to make a change in your life, but found yourself unable to get going? If so, you may be trapped within your “comfort zone.”

Your comfort zone is made up of the people, places, things, and habits that are familiar to you. Many of us get scared when we even think about moving outside of our comfort zone. We cling to the known, and choose familiarity over risk. The problem with choosing to stay in our comfort zones is that it can come with a terrible price tag—one with a deep trap.

I have a lot of friends who are immigrants and living in Canada for more than five years but they do not speak English well. I asked them why not try something which is obviously good to improve their English? They said they dared not to communicate with people who only speak English. I mentioned to them that the reason they feel like this is because they are comfortable in their comfort zone.

When I first visited toastmasters ,almost 2 years ago, I was very scared to stand here on the stage and talk to lots of people in a language which I have not felt comfortable to use in public. As a marketing professional, I was familiar giving presentations in Chinese but not in English.

After the 1^st visit to the Toastmasters club, I made the decision that I need to push myself out of my comfort zone. Have so many assumptions about ourselves, what can do and what can’t do. Believe me, when I say these assumptions are all because we’re afraid to branch out.

Take last month for example: my spotlight toastmaster club peers encouraged me to participate in the club level International Speaking contest. In the beginning, I was thinking that my peers must be joking. How could I participate in a contest without my English being perfect? With the encouragement from my peers, I started to leave my assumptions behind and took the challenge.

I am glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and made it happen. When I look  back, I realize  that my previous assumptions were not right.

People who challenge themselves every day made progress daily. But what I realized was that those heroes are not smarter or better than anyone else, it’s just that they have the courage to step outside of their comfort zone.

Remember that great things never came from comfort zones!