Your Comfort Zone

I love this graphic. Of all the things floating around the internet, this holds true. Things that are easy are not rewarding. Anything worth doing will be uncomfortable – health, wellness, relationships, selflessness, service to others, friendship. You name it. This does not mean that all uncomfortable things are worth doing, however.

Put into practice

Where I do take contention with this graphic is in it’s application. It’s often cited as the impetus for monumental, momentary change. Of drastic discomfort.

I know because I’m guilty. I used this mantra as an excuse to go traipsing all over the world doing things that I perceived as outside my comfort zone. Some sort of self-serving pilgrimage, seeking
out discomfort for it’s own sake – never reflecting inward.

An amendment.

Inward, lasting change will not be found by going on some elaborate international pilgrimage. It won’t be found by eating only spinach this week. It won’t be found by doing 15 training sessions this week. It WILL be found by a series of small, seemingly insignificant decisions made every day. Decisions that are just slightly outside your comfort zone. Deciding today that you will not allow an external factor to dictate your happiness in ONE instance. Then, next week, we’ll do that twice.

Maybe you’ll pack a gym bag the night before. Don’t even come to the gym, but just commit to that one, small habit that is outside your norm. In a year, you’ll look back on all those small dots outside your comfort zone and see meaningful, sustainable change.