Comfort Zones

“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.”

– Unknown

I’ve never really thought much about comfort zones because I’ve never really felt like I’ve stopped myself from doing something because it was ‘scary’. Recently, it’s become more evident to me that these things develop as we do; what is considered to be your comfort zone at one point in your life will not be the same in a few year’s (or even week’s) time.

Career-wise, I’ve found that it’s quite easy to fit yourself in a box of what you know you can do and what you know you can do well. You may feel comfortable working for one company because your colleagues know you and they understand your skill level. Meanwhile, the idea of changing jobs to work with new people who have new expectations for you may be rather scary.

Being comfortable is not a bad thing. You can be perfectly content where you are and I’d say that you’re doing pretty well if you’re happy with your work situation.

But that’s the thing – are you happy? or are you merely content?

I’ve been stepping out of my comfort zone a lot since starting my position at my current company. I thought I would explore some ways that I have done so, which are ways that you may also have challenged yourself without realising:

1. New People, New Expectations

My current position is working for the first company that I have done Digital Marketing for professionally (besides my university and some small-business owners). I was hired to do something that I did not have extensive experience in, for people who did not yet know me and who had therefore established their own expectations of what I would be like. It is easy to obsess over the way other people see you, the things they expect from you, and their opinion of you and your actions. At the end of the day, what other people think of you is none of your business. Focus on the task at hand and doing the best that you can – if people don’t appreciate your efforts, they’re not your people.

2. Belittling Your Own Skills

I’ve always described myself as “not being a tech-wizard”. Whenever someone asks me about technology, that’s what I automatically say:

“Oh, I don’t know – I’m not a tech-wizard, sorry!”

Recently, I’ve realised that I’ve been saying this because technology is definitely NOT my comfort zone. I can’t code and please don’t ask me how to fix your computer because I have absolutely ZERO clue! However, I actually know a lot about technology, mainly because I have to use it a lot in my daily life. I’m trying to train myself to stop belittling my skills just because I’m worried I’ll get something wrong and be embarrassed. Everyone makes mistakes and, whether I say it or not, although I’m not an expert when it comes to technology, I definitely know my way around.

3. Doing New [Scary] Things

I do new things everyday at work: I try new software, explore new methods of doing things, take on new tasks. But not all new things are scary. It’s the scary, new things that push you out of your comfort zone.

For example: (referring back to point 2) I didn’t know the first thing about websites when I started my current job.

Apart from writing a few of my own blogs on WordPress, I had never really delved into the way that websites work. One thing I can tell you is: websites can be really confusing! There are a lot of elements that can go wrong when you edit a website, especially if you try to dabble in coding when you REALLY shouldn’t (I learnt my lesson with that one pretty quickly!). Websites are also a fundamental part of many businesses, so when you mess something up, you need to fix it equally as fast.

This is why I was a bit apprehensive to do anything with my company’s website. But, 4 months on, websites aren’t out of my comfort zone anymore … but coding still is! (*someone please teach me how to apply basic code*).

Overall, my current challenge for myself is to continually identify my comfort zone and make efforts to go beyond it. That isn’t to say that I do that everyday because, some days, being content is all that I aspire to be. But, each time I do something that stretches my comfort zone, it becomes less scary, less intimidating, and more doable.

Main takeaway: when you do something that challenges your comfort zone, regardless of how small it is – celebrate it!