WANT TO BE IN YOUR COMFORT ZONE? THEN FORGET YOUR SUCCESS

The desire to be successful is something that pretty much everyone experiences at some point. Success can take many forms and mean different things to different people. One person’s idea of success might be having bags of cash and lots of expensive items, whereas someone else might dream of working for the environment in non-profits or wildlife conservation groups. Another person might be looking for success in their personal lives, building a happy and loving family. No matter how they define it, everyone seems to have some ambition to achieve it. But the reality is that success comes with its drawbacks. While it can mean getting the exact outcome you want, it may also shape you towards what someone else wants. It involves stepping outside your comfort zone and trying those things that are initially not in your nature.

Comfort zones have more definitions than you’d think something boring and lazy would. The boring and lazy often is what we mean when we use the term. The most accurate definition is a lot different. It isn’t a place, but a mental, emotional, and physical boundary of belief and trust within your own capability. Beyond it, the world seems a bit daunting. It’s all about what you know. But you know what? Knowing what you know is awesome. The comfort zone is a crucial point in someone’s psyche; a mental state of familiarity that has cropped up in the corporate world over the past few decades with a huge reputation, if not that many mentions. A preferred mental state may sound like something that needs more attention. Because when comfort zones make up individuality, happiness, capabilities, and work are all working perfectly with each other. And they’re all working fine. Comfort indeed has a sizeable influence then. Sizeable drawbacks too.

Comfort zones have always been a widely familiar concept and a casual topic among individuals from all industries. It's only recently, however, that the matter was raised within the comfort zone model regarding the results of success rather than the nature of pulling back into comfort zones. Scholars from a variety of disciplines began focusing on the details surrounding the biases that come forth with success. In the attempt to explain why and how successful individuals may be spared the arduous trial-and-error procedure that others find themselves unavoidably compelled to partake in, the majority have looped back to the roots of these behaviors, which all point back to the comforting nature of our beloved comfort zones. As much as it actually makes sense within the human nature rulebook, to return to the embrace of the impossible to conquer comfort zone 'habitational' nature of our behavior, this does not explain the emergence of full-grown and varied biases present and accumulating among truly successful individuals.

Besides numerous key concepts such as superiority complex, confirmation bias, and the Dunning-Kruger effect being attributed to the avoidance of internal and external challenges by successful leaders, it must be noted that these identifications of characteristics have been formulated primarily using data from specific industries themselves. Most significantly, the philosophizing of comfort zones concerning the relationship between success and biases has yet to require empirical evidence that actively links the formation of biases to the hardships of success. As such, the first part of the research paper is targeted to delve further into the creation process of biased behaviors. Data on the correlations between the number of awarded tokens and a variety of biases will be put forth to fully illustrate the complexity behind the behaviors assumed when successful. Individualistic or stereotypical traits. Results achieved will lead to two empirical definitions for biases, aiming to provide a further understanding of the inhibiting nature of comfort zones. Such research demands unbiased individuals on identical levels of success to identify the differences within

I introduce the concept of the 'comfort zone', categorizing it as one of three domains, a variety of conditions and constraints experienced within each zone and where such zones occur. This section supports other explanations in the paper showing the inappropriate 'overemphasis' and characteristics associated with comfort. It presents findings in such a way as to explain or highlight the shortcomings of such states (i.e., about people being too comfortable). In a later section, I discuss what is good about achieving consistency from this state and provide strong arguments against it.

The notion of the 'comfort zone' - the preference for predictability gained in the acquisition of a relative equilibrium - is a characteristic of individual personality and behavior and occurs in both personal and business spheres. The term 'psychological inertia' as an explanation of state existence has been cited for this domain yet fails to adequately account for the encompassing array of constraints. A full picture reveals a complex bi-directional exchange between the individual's perceptions and experiences, the consequences of acting from their positional adoption, and the consequential drift achieved as a result. It is effectively a multi-state interaction; an equilibrium domain in which very little active effort is required for maintenance. It defines a state extant when nothing takes place. We engage with life; we think, feel, learn, play, socialize; we experience and achieve in what is called the 'growth zone'. It is at that interface, where imagination relies upon experience to create opportunity, an active participant may move a situation from our comfort zone. Once this has been done, someone, or something, outside the situation will, in effect, be encouraging our transformational response.

Comfort zones are an important area for exploration since they generally limit our experiences and potential opportunities. To hold a job in one's comfort zone might seem like the happy status quo, but it can also hinder progress. One must find a way to move out of one's comfort zone; however, this transition will always present some form of resistance or fear until one can create a greater comfort level. Unfortunately, the only way to override our fear is by taking a step outside of our familiar comfort zone. Real progress comes when one is placed in an environment of stress and triggers. That is, when put in a truly stressful environment, some find a way to excel.

It is vital that we stress a boundary in order to reach greater levels of potential or avenues of success. It follows that although one can be successful, one's potential for success is not yet achieved merely by being confined to a familiar environment. It was also uncovered that people with fixed mindsets were those who viewed comfort zones as limiting. In typecasting people as comfort zone dwellers, one merely misinterprets the successful nature of individuals. Lastly, comfort zone limitations prohibit opening oneself to new experiences and opportunities. In order to redefine one's potential for success, an important aspect to embrace is the idea of comfort zones.

So, what is success and what are the drawbacks of acquiring this state of being? Success entails not only victory, but the degree or measure of succeeding, the attainment or achievement of what is desired, the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence, and one that succeeds. Emphasized in the definition, however, is victory, or the degree or measure of succeeding. If we narrow our focus to academic success, success is the passing, successful completion, or outcome of an endeavor, such as an examination or experiment, by exceeding an expectation or obtaining an anticipated quotient of achievement. It is an interesting point, this element of exceeding an expectation. It can be viewed in two easily concealed but vastly different perspectives.

In one perspective, the perspective of another, success is the acknowledgment made by that individual that one has exceeded a preconceived expectation. Success is the measurement made by another of our achievements. It is the justification of and reward for the personal belief in our inherent abilities, capabilities, and talents. However comforting and worthy the accolades, they are rarely the real reasons we delve deep within ourselves, searching for courage, determination, and perseverance to reach for and seize victory at the onset. We crave the purity and sense of importance that investing ourselves in something of worth and of perceived difficulty brings forth to ourselves and to our lives. It is incumbent upon us to realize this when we explore the drawbacks that success encompasses, beginning with the very personal relationship we naturally house in relation to our successes, indeed in relation to anything we may conquer.

The belief that stretching an individual beyond the confines of a comfort zone is productive is well rooted in our work and educational psyche, as demonstrated in widespread practices and teaching materials. In defining the concept, however, attempts to come to grips with the construct have been hesitant at best. There are many definitions of the term comfort zones, but they tend to remain somewhat abstract in their constructs, thereby leaving considerable ambiguity with respect to what they are and what influence they exert. One of the main shortcomings of these definitions, and a subsequent criticism, is that they fail to capture the beneficial learning aspects and outcomes that derive from the comfort zone as a result of exposure, endurance, repetitions, and reinforcers. Within corporate training programs, for example, the mainstream comfort zone model comes across as a forced challenge by the employee of a management-determined change. A real learning or cooperative experience is not truly part of the process. Such definitions tend to reject the individual's intrinsic capacity for making worthwhile learning experiences out of their own sense of mastery, or savoring the comfort that comes out of repetitive exposure to desired elements. One particularly simplistic definition relays that the concept comfort zone describes that point, skill level, or practical situation at which a person feels that they are living or working in such a way both emotionally and professionally, that all the individual's needs are comfortably balanced.

Given the uniformly negative implications of a successful performance, we suggest that such an interpretation might be too limited. Is success always really what people are aiming for? Success is important, but making progress towards achieving goals also depends on gaining the skills needed to achieve success. Positive reinforcement with no progress towards acquiring needed skills can be extremely frustrating. Success can make us feel positive, but at the same time, we must also acquire goals, deal with deep-rooted behavioral issues, and face uncomfortable contingencies. It is possible that achieving something successfully is not what people have in mind at all. Instead, motivation might be directed at understanding why something is true; when a doubter can see why the information was shared, that person may be more willing to endorse its inclusion in the argument.

During public speaking, people generally feel performed out before they produce evidence of low-quality performance. Fear of public speaking is derived from power dynamics and the audience’s ability to see inside the speaker. If audience members believe the speaker has taken deliberate steps to plan and rehearse, they have high confidence in that speaker, and it makes it harder for those audience members to point at speakers or feel superior. It is easy to find low-quality arguments appealing if they express negative emotions towards a hostile audience. If an audience is seen as supportive and that speaker has taken time to gain expertise, then an argument could be given and presented as a clearly understandable expression of a more difficult concept.

What are comfort zones? Throughout our lives, we all grow accustomed to familiar surroundings and habitual routines. It is human nature to develop patterns in our daily existences. The places in which we are most comfortable are those long-visited locations. Our self-chosen habitats could consist of our homes, schools, friends' houses, or specific stores and facilities. The habits we possess could pertain to setting morning and night routines, which might include eating, sleeping, and cleaning schedules. Our comfort zones are created and defined as we live in this world. Can schoolchildren be hesitant to reach possible academic heights because they feel comfortable with their standing? Can career people suffer inertia in achieving goals and deadlines because they feel comfortable in their jobs? When people say they have achieved success in their lives, do they imply that they are content residing in their comfort zones and are scared to leave them?

One of the most prevalent pitfalls that individuals face after achieving success is getting stuck in a rut. If one makes it big at something, it is easy to become comfortable. The comfort comes from knowing you're good, and like most people, you associate feeling good with feeling comfortable. The longer you stay in that groove, the easier it is to let others set up camp in the rest of the grooves, and once they do, it makes life more difficult for anybody else wanting to shimmy in on your turf. You're so afraid of losing that feeling of success that you find yourself unable to take risks. You begin to see areas of failure everywhere, and it deters you from trying new things.

So you reduce your exposure to failure by playing it safe, but that's at your peril. You often miss whole categories of opportunities, and self-censor and overedit, thinking that success is the goal in and of itself when you can take on risk and volatility, pain and frustration as the price you pay for the good feelings of knowing you can fight for something and win. This short shot of pain, compared to the long-term victory of future successes, can provide a much bigger satisfaction. On the other hand, this can also involve a lack of adventures and prosperity - by aiming for safety zones, the subconscious has also aimed towards more suffering. Some may prefer to refrain from taking action on this behavioral notion, keeping things as they are and suffering in the long haul.

Fear of failure and risk-taking tend to go hand in hand. The fear of taking risks tends to stem from a certain amount of caution. This is not necessarily a negative attribute to have, as it is also common for this fear to serve as a means of preventing one from committing actions that could potentially be high in risk and low in likelihood of yielding positive results. However, the fear of tying potential failure to one’s reputation and identity can become a significant hindrance in terms of achieving success. Efforts to alleviate the fear of failure and promote success by taking bigger, calculated, and affordable risks can be categorized as part of intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial attitudes commonplace in the organizational and business world today.

When key organizational players do not attempt to take greater business and investment risks, the company in question can ultimately lose out on sustainable growth and prosperity. Fear acts as a hindrance and restriction, preventing individuals from developing successful ventures. Being able to overcome this fear is vital for remaining motivated and performing at an optimum level of output. Evaluation of potential failure consequences can lead to both learned helplessness and a decrease in risk-taking, confidence, self-esteem, and eventually bring about the reduction of intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial intentions and behaviors.

To reach our goals is the primary objective of our actions in life. The depth and nature of our commitment are responsible for our present and future success. But is our success always providing us with good feelings or satisfaction? Is obtaining our objectives the continuous motivator for the bulk of our actions? Indeed, this is a swift incursion into the psychological aspects of the concepts of comfort zones, success, and the main barriers associated with commitment, motivation, and effort problems, i.e., the issues related to the desired objectives. Consequently, this is more focused on identifying the drawbacks related to the pursuit of goals and objectives, instead of concentrating on the driving forces of our actions.

What do comfort zones have to do with success? Let us suggest one possible connection among them: success can make us lazy or careless. Two factors will influence the reinforcement of good feelings related to success. One of them is "lack of failure and low self-critical feelings," referring to becoming what we will call "depersonalized individuals." By being able to reach one's goals without critical self-observation, feelings of frustration, and the necessity to create unrealistic expectations from others, individuals will be inclined to enter their comfort zones more frequently while wanting to restore feelings of ease or joy. The other success-associated factor is the association made among other individuals' requirements and the respect that is thereby received. It might be even worse than the first one, in the sense that as long as one complies with externally established objectives, he or she is seen as a powerful and effective person. Success usually is not an intrinsic characteristic of the individual; it is an external and circumstantial characteristic in relation to the collective status.

Cognitive dissonance is a major aspect of comfort zone literature, seldom discussed in explicit terms. The concept suggests that when people have two contradicting thoughts, they will seek to reduce the discomfort caused by these mental representations. Rather than ignore one of the contradicting thoughts, people will actively aim to change one of the beliefs so that cognitive dissonance is removed. Although the theory can be applied to a variety of contexts where dissonant thoughts occur, it is especially relevant to comfort zones. According to the proponents of comfort zone theory, people enjoy feeling comfortable and will only push themselves when discomfort reaches a critical level. If the critical level is reached, dissonant thoughts are generated, which cause an uncomfortable mental state or psychological discomfort. Participants will then enhance their confidence or control and push themselves in order to seek congruence and reduce this feeling of inertia.

Reducing the negative effects of insecurity by bolstering both self-efficacy and outcome expectations is a simple strategy for seeking the feeling of inertia, thus removing the cognitive dissonance of pushing personal limits and thereby greeting success. If people continue to feel inertia, the process is cyclical, with the comfort zone being continually fixed. The actual goal achievement is not important, but seeking the inertia or lack of immediate disillusion by bolstering both self-efficacy and outcome expectations. This approach will prevent experimentation, maintaining their standpoint, whereas the group that distributes their resources over time opts not to engage in motivated practice. When participants fail, they must attribute failure to their personal control and confidence, associated with feelings, for they adhere to a fixed mindset. As the fixed mindset participants believe failure is due to a lack of ability for which they have little control. Therefore, the helpless ethos does not pursue personal success. In other words, bolstering self-efficacy when participants fail prevents them from feeling the inertia to change.

Self-efficacy is a specific type of belief in one's capabilities and is about approaching things in a competitive way. This can be influenced by four main sources: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasions, and physiological and emotional states. A comforting tool to obtain and maintain a modest view of oneself and one's capabilities is self-handicapping. It is a strategy for creating external attributions for potential failure in the face of a threat to self-esteem. When such chances to use an excuse for the performance outcome are present, people are encouraged to believe that the outcome will be unrelated to their effort levels. Even though this takes place, these individuals continue to hold this belief during the execution phase of the task and become more receptive to interventions that help them maximize their chances of performing positively. As humans, our self-identity often takes up and combines with the roles we have and the important role we play for someone else. The self-perception theory attempts to address the causes behind this. According to the theory, people don't always have clear attitudes about subjects in advance. When they are allowed to do so, they may use their behavior as a type of cue that helps them decide how they feel. This suggests that they have the added benefit of the self-perception of their success and can feel more competent in the process.

In short, "When there is no more fear in the journey of success; that is when you reach the peak of success." The journey of success is about discovering the real you without the fear of being judged by others. Think of the people who have been successful in business; are they "people pleasers?" Do they worry about what others are thinking about them? The majority of these successful people have taken some risks, and that has involved them in taking a leap outside of their comfort zone. It is only by taking risks that you will push through your current belief limitations. Why is this part of the equation 'missing' in the case of many solitary and vision-driven people? It is the time, the sheer discipline to concentrate on what success can also bring that is often not taken into consideration.

Most people make their judgments about where they are at zero time. Using the breakthrough strategies of the really successful people, you can leapfrog over many of these comfort zone issues. This then allows you to grow from a position of power. You have waited long enough for success. However, now it is clearly time for success to start waiting for you. Thirty years ago, the overall climate had completely changed. People are taking more notice, paying more heed, letting more of the excitement through. Leaders are being much less comfortable, and it follows that their companies are getting incredibly strong. Then, almost in inverse proportion to the dimensions of this change, you feel comfortable again. In fact, you are, in the eyes of the world, very successful. So now you are similarly beset with doubts. The fear is back, specifically the fear of failure. Although the title of this paper is 'the impact of overcoming comfort zones on success', the converse situation is equally valid.

Drawing on our previous discussion, many socio-economic considerations can impel us towards entering what we have come to term as comfort zones. It should be reiterated, however, that the phrase as we have purposed does not consistently or intrinsically imply that something negative or bad is happening. Indeed, comfort zones can be seen as vital refreshment stops that can sustain us and assist us in enduring the rigors of our quests for what we have undertaken to believe are improved lives for ourselves.

Personal Growth and Development But the message of at least being aware that comfort zones may offer both positive and inconvenient negatives is important for a very profound reason, a reason that lies at the core of our quests at hand. These men and women explored, lived life, and shared their journeys of exploration through poetic or prosaic rendering because they appreciated, loved, and valued the reasons behind the stress and load. Their reasons: personal growth and development, construction of meaningful, fruitful, happy, and contented lives for themselves. Their myriad tools: self-expression in action, exploration, personal challenge, and risk-taking. Their motivation: relentless self-determination. Only by straying from within our planted, safe, nurtured, and protective comfort zones can our true potential, quality, and worth emerge.

When people are constantly in a frame of mind of not being too sure about what lies next in their career, they are able to better appreciate the importance of new ideas and trying out new concepts. If they only worry about keeping their jobs, they have no frame of mind to appreciate the importance of evolving themselves. When people become more confident in having a job, they start manipulating their external symbols of authority and success. They develop a significant practice of hiding their weaknesses so that they look immaculate and infallible to those who work around them. The flaunting of the symbols of success is put into practice, and this invariably becomes a very significant aspect of managerial life. All these things are often harmful to team relationships because no one likes to be kept in an apparent position of weakness. As a result, people with potential talent are artificially kept away from exploring new, more challenging opportunities because they are not going to be looked up to as super managers.

This is the guiding philosophy that deters organizational innovation. People feel uncomfortable. Administration and experts have properly emphasized neither the fact that success becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy nor the fact that by changing their patterns of behavior in response to the symbols of success, they have given themselves little or no time at all to concentrate on their basic skills and perform very well. These symbols of success get many individuals so hopelessly engrossed in the mindless chase that they have no alternative but to be denied tranquility of mind for wanting what they are doing or why they are competing. Consequently, a large number of other people have stopped learning and sharpening their basic skills. They are too busy copying the senior competition's ideas, service motives, and management styles, rather than stepping out of their careers to focus on acquiring the skills of decision-making and judgment and developing their inner potential to be creative and innovative.

Distractibility is the first common obstacle. Many of us are incredibly distractible, and data indicate we are more distracted now than ever, which is a major challenge when productive activity takes focused attention. The desire for pleasure or gratification may be directly opposed to the feeling of discomfort or challenge, so our comfort zone wants to opt for instant gratification, while our self that knows and desires expanding our comfort zone knows it must put in some effort for lasting satisfaction. Any form of addictive cycle – whether with a drug, our phone, gambling, certain games, or anything that creates the same patterns of dopamine release – could reinforce the immersion into our comfort zone, making it ever harder to give that up. We are also increasingly sedentary, much less so than our bodies would like us to be, our threshold for work is decreasing, and we have the ability to get things done faster than ever. At the same time, meaning is important to us, and the roads to a meaningful life and satisfying accomplishments often lead straight through challenges and out of comfort zones. Far too often, many things in our society are setting up shrink versus expand conflicts that are so difficult for us to resist giving in to.

Difficult people are the second major challenge. Communities, families, organizations, partnerships, and societies have naturally developing mores, taboos, rules, laws, and cultures, which are related to the homeostasis and survival of these groups that predetermined their formation. Someone seeking to innovate, bring in new insights, question the rules or cultures, or create a new and different culture can make existing group members uncomfortable and therefore has a challenge to face if the leadership or majority of the group wants to maintain its status quo. A third major obstacle to personal exploration is the tendency to plan and look ahead to desired futures, therefore forgetting about the present in favor of that future. Having goals is correlated with success, and many people are thinking about the future constantly, meaning most of the time they are not focused on what is happening in their day-to-day lives. The minimization of gratification dynamic discussed previously then kicks in and makes it even harder to take action on expanding the comfort zone because these actions will most always be challenging, frustrating, or hard.

When someone experiences success in a particular field, does this success give rise to the idiom ‘resting on one’s laurels’? To rest on one’s laurels is an idiom based on the practice of awarding a victor a crown of the bay laurel – it means to be pleased with what one has already achieved, and therefore stop making an effort. In general, it means to relax after achieving a certain degree of success and not try to progress further. Even though this idiom is widely accepted across all cultures, there are few research studies in this area. This global problem extends to the area of school English curriculum research, as there are very few studies on student enthusiasm for the study of English in secondary schools. As the curriculum requires students to practice learning English and acquire varied literacy skills, it is important to stimulate students’ interest and help them to build up their confidence so as to increase their sustained concentration and study this important aspect of the school curriculum. One possible method to overcome this hurdle is by making effective use of a variety of performance tasks activities.

Unfamiliarity and uncertainty can also be the result of participating in tasks that are perceived by students as being too challenging or too controversial. Language learning certainly will encompass all these experiences as they are a part of secondary literary experiences. In this research study, the fear of encountering difficult academic tasks, the fear of getting bad marks, and the fear of failing in English are some of the factors that have been identified as influencing pupils’ level of interest in making the transition from primary to secondary schools. Given this consideration, does familiarity affect comfort zones? Since it is easier to remain in the zone we are familiar with, are students afraid to move forward in light of not knowing how to face a larger amount of content and a heavier study load in advanced English, in case their expectations of acquiring the anticipated knowledge are not met? According to my research findings, this uncertainty permits secondary students to stay in their comfort zones fully convinced that in universities, they will continue to face unfamiliar tasks represented by advanced knowledge and procedures. They are also comfortable with the fact that their study load will not diminish but expand, given the scope of advanced content areas and the numerous branches of investigation. In university, they will be obliged to discover how to use standard language as they will be required to express themselves, voice their opinions, possess knowledge, and develop their field of expertise through the complex written representations of other people’s arguments and pose their own reasoned stance in theses, dissertations, and students’ academic practices that they will need to complete during their university courses.

Working with the belief that once we have reached our goals, it is time for this lifestyle to lean back and have some fun, we have absorbed a fundamental myth connected with pressure and anxiety. As is already the case among financially secure individuals with high professional reputations and good jobs, they are under social pressure to maintain and consolidate their status in this specific lifestyle. The same strong pressure applies to everybody desiring to complete vital tasks and goals. One who, under these conditions, still spends too little of their time in defined off-time or time for relaxation, and indeed makes use of the fact that they have achieved success and may have a good time, both physically and mentally, could soon be seen as eccentric. Certainly, sooner or later, they might even wonder what it has been worth to improve their lifestyle and, perhaps, as a matter of fact, might feel uncomfortable with these thoughts.

The expectation of society, as part of the social pressure, not only consists of the movement through a chronically stressful living and working routine, but also the lifestyle connected with these endless strivings, especially to consume more and more. Although many of us know that consumption does not make up for the mentioned drawbacks of our culture, we usually consume more. Few of us are still able to acknowledge these facts, as we belong to the status that people around us expect of us, and in turn, few might admit that the relationship, along which huge investments and enormous consumption turn into a kind of purposeless waste. With that, social pressure already surrounds the road leading to goals; the acquisition of what we wish is even expected as an impetus, and obtaining it is encouraged and prescribed by companies for their own increased consumption and additional profits.

If you’re sensing that the drawbacks of comfort zones may be creeping into your lifestyle and that it’s time to step out for a bit, here are a few ideas to help you stretch into more of your potential. Some of these may be more meaningful to you than others. Just start with the one that appeals to you the most: Emphasize your long-term vision. Remind yourself of what you ultimately want to achieve. Is what you’re doing now getting you there? How can you expedite your progression by stepping out of your comfort zone? Ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Then ask, “What evidence do I have to support this worst-case scenario perspective?” It’s a simple matter of critical thinking. Many of our fears expose themselves as irrational when we flatly challenge them inside our heads. Plan mistakes and errors as stepping stones to success. There’s a good chance you’ve already discovered that the fear of making mistakes is one of the greatest inhibitors to stepping out of our comfort zones. Think of past situations in which you exhibited great courage. What enabled you to act despite the fear? How were your feelings about the situation afterward different than your initial feelings? Be inspired to rekindle this courageous insight and to apply it to your new challenge.

Why is it that success often leads to less experimentation with regard to innovation and creativity? Why is it that people are often more willing to try new directions when they are not confined to a 'comfort zone' of success and somewhat homogeneity? Several studies provide evidence that a very effective procedure for broadening, or even redefining a person's or a group's comfort zone is through gradual exposure, taking progressive steps, and slowly climbing up the ladder of alertness and creativity.

People who were exposed to a high degree of consequences and a considerable mental load associated with alertness and anticipation were able to maintain their high level of alertness, especially when the alertness load they normally had to handle corresponded with the alertness load they were exposed to. On the other hand, people who did not normally handle this type of alertness load were less able and inclined to maintain and practice alertness during the experimental session. These people were not used to the level of concentration required to monitor variables in an alert state and found it unnecessary and even brutal when they discovered that to sustain from errors they had to invest significantly more effort.

Mindfulness and self-awareness through regular self-reflection can keep us in the present moment and focused on our actions. This enhances our ability to recognize feelings, our capacity for empathy and positive interactions, and activates the parts of our brains that are associated with better decision-making. Therefore, engaging in self-reflection helps provide important clues to our habits and identify when comfort-seeking behaviors are becoming problematic. Understanding how and why we behave the way we do through regular self-reflection allows individuals to positively impact the patterns of their behavior in the context of both life and career. This, in turn, allows individuals to function more optimally in life and cope better with the challenges and opportunities around them. Perspectives derived from mindfulness practice also promote the elimination of tasks that appear comforting rather than performing beneficial functions. Eliminating excessive comforting activities from daily life increases our capacity to address important issues and the ability to better care for ourselves. The curiosity and enhanced awareness that regular self-reflection develops help clear out an individual’s comfort zone a little more every day. Clearing out the current comfort zone encompasses what life experiences we are really after and what direction we want our lives to proceed in. With the enhancement of greater skill and knowledge, the present comfort zone transforms into a new version that contains positive aspects, such as enjoying our company, and removing other negative and unhealthy aspects. In the process of adapting these new positive behaviors and following what truly matters in one’s life, it is possible to achieve a new satisfaction that many individuals yearn for but do not know how to obtain. With regular self-reflection through mindfulness activities, our focus on the present moment and compassionate attention assists in tuning into our source of comfort.

There is a role for both success and comfort in our lives. However, the concentration on any one to the exclusion of the other sometimes has poisonous effects. Striving for success is a vigorous, sometimes unyielding task that may necessitate disregard for certain considerations that might be the consequence of a "comforting" viewpoint. However, isolated success may land us in a place that we do not want to be in, i.e., a place to which we might be assigning the precise opposite of meaning. On the other hand, a focus on the amenities in our lives—taking care, paying more attention, and getting along—doesn't leave much space or energy for the effort necessary for us to accomplish those things that we perceive as truly important. Consequently, the reduction of comfort may be necessary in order to achieve success, but too much success or too much effort may effectively eliminate comfort and deprive an individual of some of the most meaningful aspects of life.

It seems apparent that either the absence of a positive or a negative vitiation by excess emphasis on either of these concepts could contribute to decreased meaning in life. Conversely, the balance between success and comfort, a sense of continuity and wholeness in both achieving goals and deriving happiness from the environment, has a different nature and emotion that can influence and match the components of meaningful lives in multiple ways. My experience with adult attachment theory provided some early building blocks for me to recognize and explore this more comprehensive perspective. Still, my theory and exploration of the successful adoption of perspectives that permit individual happiness and goal achievement as well are far from complete.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is not something that will challenge a high-performing professional. Their comfort zone has them putting in the hard yards and beyond. High-performing professionals tolerate years of working long hours, disregarding breaks and holidays. While solely focusing on work may provide immediate gratification, it can lead to disappointment later in life when professionals find there was no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They frequently sacrifice family, faith, friends, fitness, and finances when they could include these as part of their journey right then, right there.

To ease the feelings of depletion and purposelessness felt in the work arena, the high-performing professional may either, on a smaller scale or more frequently, increase the number of holidays taken. These are not rejuvenating holidays because they are taken from a place that they believe society expects of them: the frenetic peak, the place where the noise was, where the email alerts rang, and where they kept running from the truth. For the true high-performing professional, the reality is that the truly life-enhancing holidays are almost in the minority. All the time spent working adds up to disillusion, and ultimately the main motivator for taking prolonged periods overseas becomes the quest to rediscover the person they were before entering the workforce.

Parents have a long track record of setting priorities and goals for their kids. They know what's best for their children all the time and talk about the other kids who are working hard at school or practicing the piano. This could be one of the safety nets parents need to let go of; helping kids to reevaluate priorities and goals. Responding to problems without solving them is not always the best course. Help kids reevaluate their goals and actions and decide what should be changed, and assist them in finding ways to make the changes themselves. No matter how small the decision, determine how much of a partner you want them to be in negotiation and discussion. It may be as much fun for you as for them. Teenagers often feel they have no control over the decisions that affect them. There are many special opportunities to step back and reevaluate where they really want to be. For a month, scale back the extracurricular commitments. This will provide more time for reevaluating priorities and might slow down the headlong rush or need to stay so busy. If the level of activity seems to change them in ways they don't like, perhaps they should think again about how many activities are necessary. Start working on family time together. After a few weekends, if you notice people seem to be getting on each other's nerves, discuss how the rushed lifestyle may be causing tension. Again, help kids make the decisions that need to be made and get back on track.

We have defined and introduced a pragmatic distinction between success and center-wide success. We have suggested a concrete outward boundary definition and have attempted a more qualitative abstract discussion of these boundaries. In doing so, we have described SDE-based space increased, center-wide success, and resultant scientific stagnation. We have offered negative group effects as a potential explanation and have introduced comfort zones as a behavioral framework for discussing and possibly addressing some group effects. At the least, we believe we have offered a supplementary preventive organizational ethics approach in a scientific culture that is more willing to allow scientists to overflow into unrecognized secondary effect territory. Our ability to help communities avoid drift and maximize the quality of their scientific endeavors, specifically in relation to the negative aspects of successful center aggregation, will be relative to our ability to clarify and strengthen the concepts and relationships we have introduced here. We consider this a substantial potential benefit.

Unavoidable appeal gets down in the growth and implementation of new paradigms, one of the finer points of why acts of creating are among the most interesting periods in an individual career. We would suggest caution however that within the act, despite the ability to create universally human recognized images: they are also difficult to create well or expertly. There are many roads to the human valley floor, most of which are quests that likely take a lifetime. How the districts, cities, states, and countries of an individual space increasing civilization express success is not preordained. Each community's resulting environment is instead a grand laboratory where the routes to universal image realization can be implemented and tested. Small subtle individual and community differences matter here. While maps that have been prototyped, tested, and then ratified into the gateway swarm can be helpful locally, if used lock-step, wittingly or not, they are known to inhibit human image creation.

Dr. Javeed MD