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How To Make 2023 The Year You Break Out of Your Comfort Zone
It’s time to get comfortable with being uncomfortable
Last week husband and I went to a new restaurant in our neighborhood that friends had been raving about.
At first, I hated everything about the place. The chairs were uncomfortable. The menu was odd. The interior was crowded and loud.
But as I sat thinking about how I would never go back there again, it hit me: there was nothing wrong with the restaurant. It was me.
I was entirely out of my comfort zone.
I’ve gotten so used to going to the same few restaurants that I know what to expect from them, and there are no surprises. This restaurant had unceremoniously forced me to come face to face with the new and unexpected.
It had actively pulled me out of my comfort zone and required me to embrace things I wasn’t used to.
We all have comfort zones that we unconsciously depend on. While they are pleasant, they can quickly become, well, a little too comfortable. When that happens, new things don’t get tried, and changes don’t get made. You are figuratively stuck going to the same restaurant over and over.
Happily, it doesn’t have to be this way. Your comfort zone isn’t a tightly locked isolation chamber. You can break out if you want.
It’s not difficult, and you don’t have to make it complicated.
Seriously.
To get you started, here are three clear-cut ways to make 2023 the year you slip out of your comfort zone and welcome new things into your life.
First, adopt a Growth Mindset.
Rather than viewing your comfort zone as a place you’re always going to be, no matter what, realize that you have the power to change nearly everything about it.
A Fixed Mindset tells you (falsely) that things are set in stone, and nothing can change. Things like: I’ll never be a runner, I can’t get a new job, I can’t make new friends, I’ll never be good at understanding spreadsheets or recipes or how to change a tire.
