As the end of the year approaches, it seems like everyone is falling into various states of confusion:
Maybe you're about to graduate, torn between the careers
your family recommend and your own aspirations;
Maybe you've been working hard for years, only to find
that your job no longer suits you;
Or perhaps you want to invest your energy outside of work
and find a side hustle that suits you.
At times like these, it seems like everyone around you is
earnestly advising:
"Staying in your comfort zone all the time will make
you stagnant; only by stepping out of your comfort zone can you become a better
version of yourself."
But what's the reality?
When you want to step out but lack suitable references,
you can't help but feel lost and confused.
Is stepping out of the comfort zone really about going to
uncomfortable places?
The more appropriate advice should be trying to
continually expand our comfort zone to make more things comfortable for us.
Stepping out of the comfort zone isn't about breaking it,
but about establishing and expanding more comfort zones.
Everything should be based on your own capabilities, take
it easy.
As soon as you hear the word "comfort," many
people's first reaction is to think it's not progressive.
"Young people should strive hard. If you don't work
hard now, you'll regret it later."
"Why don't you go for a master's degree? Having a
degree will make it much easier to find a job or switch jobs."
This panic of falling behind forces those who have
finally caught their breath to keep busy.
Once they stumble, there are people behind them saying
with a strange tone, "See, I knew it wouldn't work. I should have advised
you to change earlier."
Feeling restless and wanting to relax online, what you
see is:
Naturally beautiful women still doing homework every day
to maintain their appearance; knowledgeable scholars tirelessly sharing study
abroad opportunities; sweet couples continuously recommending items to warm up
their relationships...
These groundless "appearance anxiety,"
"financial anxiety," and "educational anxiety" spring up
like whirlpools.
So, we start desperately trying to escape our old selves.
But have you ever thought that this isn't stepping out of
your comfort zone but stepping into the circle drawn by others?
Many netizens have asked, "Is choosing to stay in
your comfort zone not progressive?"
Jumping around, hitting walls everywhere, she still
didn't live the better life her mother wanted.
Stepping away from comfort and embracing discomfort must
be the right thing to do, right?
Even if you listen to others and change your environment,
what then?
For someone who doesn't like studying, even if you drag
them to the library, they'll still play with their phones;
For someone who's used to living in the countryside, even
if you take them to adapt to the big city, they still can't seek change.
The stupidest thing is to abandon your strengths and
desperately try to compete with others in areas where you're weak, suddenly
switch careers to compete with experts.
And those who advise you to step out of your comfort zone
with ill intentions are just trying to make money off your anxiety.
There's absolutely no need to use the "glamorous and
bright" in other people's mouths as a reference to measure your own life.
Being blindly led by others will only bury your own
brilliance.
Just like for fish, stepping out of the comfort zone
should be from the pond to the river, not from water to land.
What we really should do is to base everything on
ourselves and take it easy.
After all, in this life, knowing who you are, what you
want to do, is enough.
Stepping out of the comfort zone is a ridiculous idea.
When you're in your comfort zone, you feel like you're in
control and safe;
When you're in the learning zone, you face challenges but
don't feel too uncomfortable;
When you jump into the panic zone, facing things far
beyond your abilities, you're very likely to collapse.
That's why truly smart people never easily step out of
their comfort zone but constantly expand it.
As the saying goes, "Not everyone has to live like a
warrior in life."
If you like reading and writing, there's no need to force
yourself to rely on speaking to make a living;
If you like to work quietly alone, there's no need to
force yourself to be sociable;
Only by forgetting about the idea of "stepping
out" and trying to expand your comfort zone as much as possible, getting
familiar with more and more environments, will your heart be more stable.
In this way, your life will have both relaxed pleasure
and high-speed fun.
In the end, every area becomes your comfort zone.
Such a life is wonderful.
I once heard a saying:
The scariest thing for a person is to stay in one place
all the time, limit their own life, and draw lines, missing out on more
possibilities.
Indeed, if you stay in your comfort zone for too long, it
will become a breeding ground for laziness.
But to avoid this situation, you don't necessarily have
to go to extremes.
It's more like a tree, firmly rooted in the ground to
withstand the storm.
Digging
Deep into the Comfort Zone: Creating New Layers Around What You're Good At
I think of a friend around me.
She has worked for two well-known media companies, and
then she jumped to a booming tech company.
In theory, such a woman with career planning and
professional skills should continue to advance step by step and strive for
better jobs in the workplace.
But two years ago, she suddenly told me that she had quit
her job and planned to start her own media platform.
I asked her why, and she only said that in today's
rapidly changing content landscape, she wanted to explore more possibilities
related to "writing."
In hindsight, she was right and met a better version of
herself in her passion.
After all the twists and turns, it's hard for a person to
get rid of their talents, interests, and industry accumulations to do things.
Without talent, you can't be strong; without interests,
you can't last long; without industry experience, it's impossible to make
money.
Just like why a compass can draw circles, because it has
its center of gravity.
Life is like drawing a circle.
Once you've determined the center, just keep going, and
you'll draw a complete circle.
Expanding
the Comfort Zone: Expand the Edge of the Comfort Zone Outward and Turn the
Learning Zone into the Comfort Zone
So how do you gradually expand your comfort zone?
A line from a movie might inspire us—
"You have to go to a restaurant one day and order a
dish you've never ordered before, eat it all, and then realize it's quite
delicious."
In daily life, you might as well set aside 15% of your
time and energy to try things you've never done before, understand aspects of
life or ideas you've never tried to understand.
For example, buy a book you've never been interested in
before, sign up for a course you've never thought of taking, accept an
invitation you were planning to refuse, or actively talk to a colleague you're
not very familiar with...
You don't have to force yourself to go out, just try to
explore the edge of your comfort zone slowly and expand it.
It's like when a gym trainer asks students to do two more
sets of exercises when they can't.
You might ask why, but actually, doing these two extra
sets each time promotes the continuous tearing and growth of muscles,
ultimately achieving the goal of fitness.
That's 80% comfortable and 20% boundary breakthroughs.
Once you take the first step, you'll find that it's not
as terrifying as you thought.
Someone once asked about "how to step out of the
comfort zone," and expert only replied with, "Why?"
Expert isn't asking for a reason, but letting the person
ask himself why he want to step out of his comfort zone. Once you have an
answer, you naturally know how to do it."
Indeed, the answer to this question lies within ourselves.
When you know who you are, where to go, and what to do,
whether you're inside or outside the circle becomes irrelevant.
Next year, if someone advises you to step out of your
comfort zone again, you can confidently reply:
"No need, I've already learned how to expand my own
comfort zone."
Read Also:
Holding Back: The Power of Resisting Correction
Listen: Podcast
