It's an Illusion, Really

What a cozy place to be, a place you never want to leave...except if your comfort zone or your perception of your comfort zone is not really providing comfort. In fact, your comfort zone may very well be holding you back from following your passion and finding greater meaning and purpose in your work.

What many people describe as their comfort zone--the routine of living, doing what you must do, meeting deadlines, working long hours, and maintaining a full or overfilled schedule--is really not comfortable at all. Instead, what you feel is discomfort while you wait for the right opportunity or the right time to finally do what you really want.

That being said, change is personal and no one experiences change the same way because change is viewed from an individual perspective. Every thought, action, and feeling is derived from your personal experience. Only you can define change by your innermost feelings about doing something different.

Of course, for change to happen, everyone believes you must leave your comfort zone. In spite of your past experience with change, even if your intention is positive, there is some apprehension, anxiety, maybe resistance, and a tad bit of fear as you step out of your self-imposed comfort zone. Not to mention, as change intensifies, so does discomfort moving you into chaotic confusion with the feeling of being stuck--not able to go back or not able to move forward.

But it doesn’t need to be this way. Whether you are involved in planned change, unplanned change, leading a team through change, or transforming an organization, the act of change should not push you out of comfort.

However, leaving your comfort zone regardless of how much discomfort it brings is downright frightening. That is, until you understand that the comfort zone is only an illusion and leaving your comfort zone is not so hard after all!