The comfort zone it’s a psychological state in which you feel in control of the situation, you are comfortable, protected and your levels of anxiety and stress they’re short. According to Brené Brownexpert in courage and empathy from University of Houstonis a place “where our uncertainty, scarcity and vulnerability are minimized, where we believe we will have access to enough love, food, talent, time, admiration. Where we feel that we have everything at hand in general”. In short, a space in which dangers and threats are under control. Something that is good, but also it has its disadvantages. It is in the latter where the American psychiatrist Nassir Ghaemi find a possible reason for the unhappiness. He is not the first to say it, but he is the last. This is how he explains it in an article published in Psychology Today
The 10-year rule and happiness
How to get out of the comfort zone? Travel to a place you don’t know yet. Travel transforms us and makes us better.
According to Nasir Ghaemifrom the comfort zone it is easier procrastinate and, as a consequence, slow down our progress towards self-sufficiency. personal and professional fulfillment. When we are comfortable and safe, we assume fewer challengeswe take fewer decisions and, as a consequence, we grow more slowly. He stress in small doses encourages us to live new experiences. “If you look around you -he explains- adventurous people tend to always wear their smile“. And, on this basis, the expert recommends a simple and effective method: the 10 year rule. In other words, “you must change what you do or how you live, every ten years” as one more way of increase your happiness. The expert explains that this period can be shortened or lengthened, depending on life circumstances: “If things go wrong, change every 5 years. If they go well, you can wait 15 years.” And he adds: “it can entail risks but also a series of opportunities that allow you not to fall into the routine as well as experiment and discover what we are really passionate about“.
6 ways to get out of your comfort zone and feel better
Get out of the routine and live new experiences to increase your happiness.
Find the motivation to get out of our comfort zone can is not easy because it involves exposing yourself, taking risks or facing uncertainty, but the effort is worth it. As the explorer said Erling Kagge, “the important thing is to get up from the sofa”. especially if you do gradually in order not to expose yourself to bad stress but to good stresssince when we have too much anxiety, the effect is just the opposite. We propose some actions that will help you take the leap and get out of your comfort zone:
- Do something you’ve always wanted to do. For example, learn to knitto jump in a parachute, to cook a recipe, etc… You will motivate yourself more easily.
- Give yourself a physical challenge. For example: Walk everyday half an hour, climb a mountain, run a marathon…
- Choose something that scares you and face it. For example: learn to drive, write to that person you would like to meet, ask your boss to raise your salary, etc…
- Renew your routine incorporating changes. For example: go to work by another way, shop at another supermarket, etc…
- Improve your professional skills. For example, learn a new program computer, read an interesting book, participate in a seminar…
- Travel to a place you don’t know yet. Los travel transforms us and make us better.