Getting out of my 'comfort zone', has always been easier to preach than to practice.
Coaching has reframed this possibility for me - that of a conscious, meticulous acceptance and expansion of competence beyond the cushioning of comfort.
That getting into that sometimes scary 'discomfort zone' is essentially expanding our capacity for entering and staying in a place hitherto unfamiliar, untested and untried.
Think of the day after this travel out of comfort! We would have pushed out the boundary of comfort allowing more possibilities into our competence-kit.
The New Normal.
What we have done is expanded our individual tolerance for committing to an unknown and exploring into it.
How can we deliberate this?
In a state of awareness and conscious observance of self, we can identify that feeling of aversion (fear, doubt, discomfort) which rises as a reflex to a call to action beyond our zone of the familiar.
Identifying each emotion for what it is, is the sweet beginning.
The progression lies in changing our relationship to these feelings over time. By exposing ourselves repeatedly to these inhibitive emotions and fears of potential awkwardness, recognising them each time they arise, we can begin to be less reflexive about them.
Overtime, we will find ourselves comfortable being with them, without the reactionary emotions taking over.
This is the stage where we are beginning to refine our response to the emotions.
In the process, we have allowed new capabilities in.
These new competencies now have a permanent berth in the Normal. The new behaviour is now an integral part of competencies that we are comfortable committing to; albeit before the next discomfort comes along!
