Folks are always talking about “getting out of the comfort zone.”

This is one of those terms that has been tossed around for so long that most of us believe we know what it means, but if we stop to think about it… are we sure?

How can you get out of your comfort zone if you don’t even know what it is?

Seems unlikely at best for you to be able to do that, right?

It would be for me at least…

This blog is dedicated to your understanding of the comfort zone – in general, and what your own comfort zone is.

I’ll include some of the things Coach Kendra McLaughlin and I (Dr. Jane) explain during our Empowering Vision Boarding for Manifestation workshop (which you can attend for free through this link) and want to encourage you that if this is of interest to you at all – please do attend that free workshop!

The comfort zone is not alone.

There are two other zones.

That’s right, folks- this is a trilogy.

Here are your zones:

The comfort zone is the small zone where everything that is familiar to you or that is repeated in your life lives.

Look at that carefully- there’s nothing about comfort in the definition.

I don’t know who named that zone, but at GILD, we call it the FAILURE zone.

It’s all about familiarity and repetitiveness – so if you’re familiar with being repeatedly told you suck, that’s part of your comfort zone.

See why it’s not so comfortable?

The Growth Zone

The growth zone is well named… it’s where you grow.

It could also be considered the “comfort zone expansion” space because the more you stretch into your growth zone, the bigger your comfort zone becomes.

In the growth zone it’s common to feel uncomfortable, nervous, exhilarated, anticipatory, nauseated, confused, and more…

You may feel as though you’re in the panic zone when you’re in the growth zone.

The big difference is the panic zone causes us to freeze… and the growth zone helps us to grow – it’s scary, but not so scary to send us running to hide under the covers.

Money mindset expert Colin Sprake says that if you’re not scaring the sh** out of yourself every single day, you’re not growing.

He says every time he smells 💩he knows he’s on the right track because the only way he’s going to get to the next great thing is by stepping out of the comfort zone.

The Panic Zone

That’s not to say the panic zone won’t scare the poo out of you – it will… but what happens there?

Your brain is signaled that there is danger and it sends you sprinting back for your comfort zone.

That actually makes your comfort zone smaller.

It programs your subconscious mind to think that you should not under any circumstances stray from the comfort (failure!) zone and to stay put.

Have you ever known someone who has a negative outlook and then when something bad happens they say, “See? I said it would be like this.”

That’s someone who has experienced the panic zone and is convinced that there is no way out of the failure zone.

That’s someone who is not growing.

People like that are draining to be around because they’re not matching your energy and intentions of growth and development.

Those are the people we say we need to be exposed to in “small doses.”

What To Do With All Of This?

It’s my favorite assignment: journaling.

I’m not going to set you out alone with your journal and a piece of paper, though.

I have some journaling prompts for you, and part of your assignment also is to watch our YouTube video that dropped with this blog post – they go hand-in-hand.

Watch that for a greater understanding of all this, and to feel more confident in your comfort zone exploration.

Writing Prompts

• What experiences, events, people, or situations scare me the most?
• What things do I often avoid because they make me feel uncomfortable?
• What are things I’ve missed out on because I have been too intimidated, scared, or uncertain to explore or experience them?
• What is at least one thing I’ve done despite being afraid, and why am I glad I did it?
• What are some things that I know I do or have around me that are not in my best interest?
• What are the ordinary things in my life that I go to or do when I am feeling bored, unmotivated, or I’m procrastinating?
• What is something I wish I had the courage to do but have always been too nervous, intimidated, scared, or afraid to do?

Write about one of these topics each day for the next seven days.

Then, next week we’re going to drop part two of this for you so you know what to do with all of your work and can develop a plan to bust out of that comfort zone once and for all!

Remember, our YouTube video goes along with this, so click over to watch it and subscribe to the channel so you’ll get notified when your part two is ready!

If you need a more personal touch to help you through this and want to take it to the next level, you can schedule a free coaching assessment with me here.