Conquering Fear by Staying Outside Your Comfort Zone

Fear sometimes or oftentimes compels us to stay in our comfort zone. If each person is allowed to have their way, they would likely choose to stay right in their comfort zone, and never venture outside it.

One of the main reasons why many people fail to utilize great opportunities that can shoot them to stardom is due to their decision to remain right inside their comfort zone. They don’t want to have anything to do with the potential or obvious qualms that lie in wait outside.

Fortunately or unfortunately, no matter how hard we try to stay in our respective comfort zones, there comes a time when we have no other option than to get up, leave, and stay outside our comfort zones so that we can stand a good chance of achieving success.

Although it sounds odd, the truth is that our very discomfort zones are effective or sure-fire ways we can use to tackle and conquer very the fears that impede our progress.

If you need to move up the ladder to the next level in your life, regardless of the endeavor, then you must learn to draw closer to, get increasingly familiar with, and stay outside your comfort zone which, at the same time, happens to be the domain of your discomfort zone.

But how or where do you start tackling or conquering the fears that have gripped us and seemingly have the upper hand at the moment? You start by bracing yourself and getting outside your comfort zone.

Regardless of the situation at hand, take baby steps and start associating with the very things that you are afraid of—the very things you dislike, the very things you’d prefer to stay away from—whether it is reading, writing, going to the gym, or just anything at all.

Baby steps are like the little drops of water that are bound together but still make up the mighty ocean: baby steps are like the little grains of sand that make up each part of the Earth’s land.

Each baby step—which is actually action on/interaction with your discomfort zone—leads to increasing degrees of familiarity and positivity that would subconsciously and eventually “draw you in” to do and become what you’ve always desired. Being consistent with the baby steps leads to the goal—your dream!

Tackling or conquering fears by taking repetitive actions that are seemingly uncomfortable or outside your comfort zone

As odd, uncomfortable, or difficult as it might seem to go over or step outside your comfort zone, it can—and in many cases will—pay you rich dividends if you do it, especially in the long run and in important areas of your life.

Since some fears are somewhat aligned or intertwined with our dreams, we usually have no other healthier option than to stretch beyond our comfort zone by gradually exposing ourselves to the discomforts or fears which are, fortunately, also opportunities for personal growth.

Exposing one’s self to fears or discomforts is actually the same thing as exposing one’s self to the opposite of what they actually like doing, which, in most cases, is staying or living permanently in a comfort zone, without ever having a care in the world!

However, it is important to note that staying in your comfort zone, instead of staying out, can keep you far away from your own promised land—the eventual realization of your dreams.

Are you afraid of heights? If yes, then start navigating towards those heights instead of running away from them. If you need to conquer the fear of heights to achieve your dreams, then the earlier you start going towards those discomforting heights—instead of shying or running away from them—the faster and better things could move for you! Some of the greatest mountain and cliff climbers were once afraid of heights in the past—they had some fear and discomfort. However, they made consistent attempts to associate with and face their fear of heights; eventually, they ended up hiking on the highest mountains and climbing cliffs which are usually higher than the tallest buildings in the world. Many of the best wouldn’t have been able to achieve the astounding feats they achieved, if not for the fact that they made consistent efforts to face their fear of heights. If not for their continuous exposure to heights and consistent approach, they wouldn’t have been able to develop the power that enabled them to get rid of the fear of heights.

Maybe you’re not afraid of heights. Maybe you’re afraid of reading! Are you one of many people who hate opening and reading books? If your answer is “yes”, then it’s important to note that if you don’t love and become familiar with opening and reading your books, it’s going to be very difficult or impossible to achieve your dreams. If you need to conquer the fear of reading to achieve your dreams, then it’s best to start opening and reading your books instead of running away from them—make it a habit! Reading books is actually the opposite of what many people feel like doing; however, reading is necessary and the most important thing that should be done in order to achieve certain goals—especially, many big ones! If people can get rid of their fear of reading, they would be able to open and read books without struggling to do it. And this could lead to a whole new world: a full-blown personal transformation!

If you’re afraid of writing, then writing is what you need to get familiar with or make a habit of doing, without having to struggle so much: writing is what you need to gravitate to, love, and make your pal in order to conquer the fear you have for it. You need to start picking up your pen and make a consistent effort to write and write and write, instead of running away from it. Exposing yourself to more and more writing would help you to grow and eventually get rid of the fear of writing.

If you need to conquer the fear of public speaking to achieve your dreams, then it’s best to start navigating towards any opportunity that can allow you to speak in public. Stop the habit of running away when opportunities arise. Even if you don’t think that you’re ready at the moment, you can and must start preparing your mindset as best as you possibly can for any opportunity (opportunities are always hanging around, waiting for people to pounce on them). This will put you in the best shape to embrace any opportunity that comes around. Although exposing yourself to public speaking—or making public speeches—could be scary and are the opposite of what you normally feel like doing, deep down you know how important it is to you; therefore, use it to your advantage and rid yourself of the fear of public speaking.

If you’re afraid of exploring new ventures (instead of embracing them like some of the world’s people who have thrived on adventures and explored new worlds), then you need to conquer the fear of exploring new ventures! If you don’t start becoming familiar with and loving new ventures, you’d find it difficult or impossible to achieve your dreams that are tied to new ventures. Exposing yourself to new ventures might be the opposite of what you actually like doing; however, it’s necessary for you to gravitate towards new ventures, start associating with them, and take baby steps to grow until you get rid of your fear of new ventures.

Concluding words: advice

One of the most important lessons we can learn from the experiences of people who have lived outside their comfort zone—or embraced discomfort, but nevertheless achieved success—is that everyone has the ability to start tackling and conquering their fear until they start seeing light at the end of the tunnel, and eventually conquer their fear.

Don’t get me wrong: regardless of our individual levels of success, each one of us still has some level of fear or reservation towards certain activities or ventures. However, we—you, me, or anyone else—can greatly diminish or even completely eradicate such levels of fear or reservation if we take those available baby steps, move, and stay outside our comfort zone.

We hope that this post will encourage you step regularly outside your comfort zone in any way that you possibly can, whether it is little or big, or even both! A little way can include something as simple as doing push-ups a little bit harder during a workout, reading or writing a bit more every day, or working for a little longer when you actually feel like sleeping or don’t feel like doing anything—even when it can help you achieve your dreams. A big way can include something as terrifying or scary as climbing higher mountains or cliffs; or it can include something as challenging as reading a 500-page book or writing 20,000 words every week; on the other hand, it can also include something as stultifying as speaking in front of more than two or more people.