The comfort zone is an area where one feels safe and comfortable in doing everything they do. The comfort zone can mean different things to different people, depending on their life experiences and habits. However, despite being comfortable, sometimes the comfort zone can become a boring place and limit us from reaching our greater potential.
However, leaving the comfort zone ain’t easy. There’re many reasons why someone might feel comfortable in that zone, such as fear of failure, fear of change, or the energy required to adapt to new environments or challenges. But to achieve success and reach our greatest potential in life, we need to be brave enough to step out of our comfort zone and try new things.
One way to step out of our comfort zone is to find out what our fears are, whether we are afraid of failure, afraid of change, or afraid of the unknown. After knowing our fears, try to break them down into small steps and start taking action to overcome them. In addition, we try to motivate ourselves to find new situations or environments, to gain opportunities to develop ourselves, to add relations, and so on.
Try doing things that have never been done before, like trying new foods, talking to strangers, or trying new hobbies. By trying new things, one can expand their comfort zone and open up new opportunities in life. However, stepping out of the comfort zone doesn’t mean trying everything excessively or without consideration. Don’t let the desire to try new things endanger ourselves or others. It is important to act rationally and with careful consideration.
For example, when I asked some friends about this topic, they answered that when trying to step out of their comfort zone in terms of friendship, where they tried to expand their friendships, but there were some things that made them uncomfortable and became a burden if continued, so they decided to stop. There are also those who try to start a new business but when running it, they feel that the value they get is not balanced with what they have given. However, both agree on the benefits of stepping out of their comfort zone to gain new experiences and perspectives on something that may not have been known before.
Trying to leave the comfort zone is indeed a good thing, there are many benefits and new perspectives that we will find by trying to step out of our comfort zone, such as the story of one member of ILC UGM, who finally managed to step out of his comfort zone by trying to move to Jogja and becoming a more independent person than before.
But does being in the comfort zone mean we won’t grow? According to some experiences that I found when interviewing some friends about this, they answered that developing oneself in the comfort zone is to focus and become a professional in what they like, such as expanding or adding knowledge about it. For example, if you like makeup, find your role model to be your inspiration and increase your references about the makeup world. Similarly, if you like the world of photography, find someone who can be your role model and learn about things related to photography. Abdillah Dollangeng, information and communication Department, ILC HMP-UGM
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