Heuristics #13 – Comfort Zone
The Context
If the stability, familiarity, and security of your personal ecosystem, i.e. your comfort zone, are what allow you to perform at your best and, if ‘the magic only happens if you move out of your comfort zone, then the magic will only happen when you change your ecosystem to be unstable, unfamiliar and insecure, i.e. be in a situation that does not allow you to perform at your best.
The Question
Does ‘stepping out’ of your comfort zone strongly imply that you are leaving your enablers ‘behind’ and venturing into a new zone where fear and instability are the paths to growth?
Heuristic 1: Be meaningfully adaptable
COVID has shown us that things, normally considered fixed, robust, and reliable, can quickly change, and that unforeseeable change is inevitable and also, that we are capable of meaningful adaptation. Apply to your comfort zone’s framework.
Heuristic 2: Enrich your existing comfort zone framework
Instead of stepping out of your Comfort Zone into the Fear Zone, then into the Learning Zone, and finally to the Growth Zone, ‘Upgrade’ the parameters of your established comfort zone so to speak.
Heuristic 3: Make your growth zone comfortable
Self-awareness is key. If you want to grow; understand, embrace, and purposefully include useful, growth-focused realities and actions, that will foster your intended growth, within your comfort zone.