What ChatGPT Doesn't Tell You About the Comfort Zone

I've been absent from LinkedIn due to personal reasons, but I occasionally come here to stay updated on the job market. Today, I saw Martha Gabriel, PhD's (Brazilian researcher) post about growth stages and felt compelled to share my recent experience on this topic.

During the pandemic, my family and I moved to a new country. With a young child and no knowledge of the local language, I can say I completely left my comfort zone and entered the fear zone.

Looking at the chart above, I began reflecting that progressing from one stage to another is not a one-time process. We advance and regress several times before overcoming a barrier and reaching the next phase.

On this topic, the modern oracle ChatGPT gave me this advice: "Stay committed: Remember that stepping out of the comfort zone isn't a quick and easy change. It's a gradual process that requires commitment and perseverance."

While the advice was good, what the chart and ChatGPT don't consider are the individual variables in each person's story who strives to surpass their limits.

Commitment and perseverance are key words for any transformation, but the quality of our actions also depends heavily on the conditions we have to realize our plans.

Mental health, time, appropriate tools, information retention ability, and skills to convert them into concrete actions are decisive factors for reaching the zone of overcoming.

As someone on this journey, I can confirm that we jump from one stage to another more than once, and it's not just a matter of willpower. We face internal and external battles that consume a lot of energy, which is why today I value small victories more.

I don't have advice as pragmatic as artificial intelligence, but living in limbo between the fear zone and the learning zone, I can say that self-care, stress relief, and strengthening through partnerships and support networks are the tools that have supported me in this moment of my life.

And you, what have you been doing to reach the zone of overcoming?