How often have you been told, “you’ve got to stretch your comfort zone” or “you’ve got to do something challenging” as if stretching your comfort zone will magically transform your career success.
How does stretching my comfort zone skyrocket my career?
Is it all just nonsense or is there something in it?
Well, actually there’s some truth in it. When you stretch your comfort zone, and do things that are a bit scary and a bit uncomfortable, it starts to move you into your growth or your stretch zone.
There are lots of benefits to moving into your growth or stretch zone. But you don’t need to stay there all the time.
Being in your comfort zone is well, comfortable. When you’re comfortable we get less productive, less creative and less innovative.
Whereas when you are in your stretch zone, you see things from a different perspective. You learn new skills. You discover talents you didn’t know you had. You get inspired. You get creative and find new ways of doing things. You take risks you might not have taken before. All of this gives you energy, ideas and confidence.
The more often you move into your stretch zone, the bigger your comfort zone becomes which means that you grow in confidence.
How to stretch your comfort zone
What do you need to do in order to stretch your comfort zone?
You need to pick something that is a stretch but not SO much of a stretch that you completely reject the idea out of hand.
One of the easiest ways to stretch your comfort zone is to do something new, that you’ve not done before. It doesn’t need to be something work related. For example:
- Join a local community group for example a local netball team, dogwalking group or choir.
- Sign up to dance lessons; if you already dance, pick a different form of dance.
- Go to the cinema or theatre on your own.
- Book a coffee catch up with someone more senior than you at work.
- Download and listen to an audio book.
- Volunteer for a local charity.
- If you’re a runner but you usually run on the roads, run off road.
- Reach out to someone on LinkedIn you admire and ask for a virtual coffee catch up.
- Sign up to do a big challenge to fundraise for a charity – for example Macmillan Mighty Hikes.
- Listen to a podcast.
- Agree to speak on stage.
- Enrol for evening classes – there are so many offer.
- Book a trip to a city or country you’ve not visited before.
- Say YES to something that normally you’d say No to (for more tips on saying yes, check out Shonda Rhimes’ Year of Yes book.
- Take a different route home from work.
- Go to a networking event.
- Ask for help.
- Learn a new skill – so many options available on LinkedIn.
Pick just ONE of these ideas and then to give you public accountability, tell someone that’s what you’re going to do.
How to get maximum benefit from stretching your comfort zone
Once you’ve done the stretch task, make time to reflect on the task. Here are some reflection prompts:
- Why was this a stretch task for you?
- What did you learn?
- What new ideas or insights has it given you?
- What surprised you?
- How might this help you at work?
- What will you try next?
I hope this has been helpful to spend time thinking about ways that you can stretch your comfort zone and to identify how this might help you in your career.
I’d love to hear what your stretch task was and how you get on.
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