DO Not Enter the Comfort Zone

She was very comfortable running 5K and 10K races, and usually placed well. She often thought about stretching herself to run a half marathon and then one day, a full marathon. As her dreams about training harder and running longer races took shape, she found herself returning to her comfortable training regime and settled once again for training to run in those 5K and 10K races.

Then one day, she decided to go for it. She made a commitment to break free from her comfort zone and train harder and run farther. She woke up earlier and each day that she ran, she pushed herself just a little bit farther until she could comfortably finish a half marathon. And after that, she left that comfort zone and began training even harder to compete in a full marathon, and last year successfully ran in the NYC Marathon.

When asked if she had plans on returning to her former routines of running in shorter races and giving up the long runs, her response was that she would never allow herself to enter the comfort zone ever again. In her mind she created an image of a “Do Not Enter” sign followed by “The Comfort Zone.”

For many of us we have reached some type of pinnacle or achieved a sought-after goal only to find ourselves slowly backsliding and reentering our former comfort zone. We reach a certain level of success and then allow ourselves to get comfortable there instead of wondering what we could do if we pressed ourselves a little harder, taking a new or different path, and maybe even taking a little risk. It’s like breaking free from one comfort zone only to enter another comfort zone.

If we are on a path of personal or professional growth, we might all do well to have that same mental image top of mind, “Do Not Enter The Comfort Zone.” Whether it’s a physical achievement we are seeking, a business breakthrough, quitting a bad habit, starting a new and positive habit, or maybe setting our sights on breaking the company sales records, once we break free from what has been holding us back, leaving our comfort zone, we need to commit to never going back or settling ever again.

Here is something to watch out for, it’s called the neutral zone. It’s that place where we have decided to break free from our comfort zone but haven’t taken any action yet. Something is still holding us back. Maybe we haven’t fully committed to where it is that we want to go. Maybe we have some head trash that’s getting in our way. Whatever it is, it has us stuck in the neutral zone. How do we get unstuck? We take the first step in the pursuit of our new goals and dreams. We don’t have to go beyond that, we are not going to go from running a 10K to running a marathon, but we are going to take the first step and maybe run an extra half mile, and then each day slowly build to our ultimate goal.

Taking that first step does something psychologically that gets us moving in the right direction. For some of us, we get caught up in all the rest of the steps and it paralyzes us to the point where we do not take any step at all. A comfort zone surrounded by a neutral zone creates a do-nothing zone. And as it has been said before, if we aren’t moving forward, we are more than likely moving backward. Zig Ziglar said it this way, “People who never take step one, can never possibly take step two.”

How about you, are there a first step that you need to take? Is there a personal or professional goal or dream that you have had on your heart for a while? If so, have you asked yourself what is holding you back? As always, I would love to hear your story at [email protected] and when we can break free from our comfort zone, leave the neutral zone behind, and commit to never entering that comfort zone again, it really will be a better than good life.?