You’ve heard it before, “move out of your comfort zone” is the familiar phrase uttered by many entrepreneurs, gurus, and mentors. As a small business owner, I have come to appreciate the wise advice to go beyond my comfort zone in business, relationships, and life. As a licensed marriage and family therapist working in a nonprofit counseling center, I was quickly becoming disillusioned with the amount of time, emotional energy, and effort I was putting into as an extremely low-income counselor.
I found myself wanting to spend more time with my children and my husband, but had student loans, license and association fees to pay, so I continued to work for the nonprofit counseling center. When I began to consider the idea of going into private practice, I came across all kinds of perfectly good reasons why I shouldn’t.
Finally, all the fears I felt about making the change were overcome by the intense desire to move into my own office and practice Marriage and Family Therapy in my own unique way. I took my first step and found an office to rent to another therapist by the hour. I started telling everyone that I knew I was going to private practice and soon, I hired some clients. It felt so good to meet clients in an office where I was in charge of how long the session would last, what specific treatment modality to use, and how much to charge for a session based on the client’s needs. That was my first step outside of my comfort zone.
Fast forward to the present moment, I now practice as a small business counselor and therapist helping other healing professionals and creative types start and grow their dream business. Now that I am working the way I always wanted, it is an interesting phenomenon that I continue to be drawn to to keep things safe and comfortable. I have had to make a conscious effort to push myself beyond my comfort zone every day.
Here are 5 tips to help business owners get out of their comfort zone and into the zone of adventure and success:
1. Change Your Thoughts – Everyone struggles with limiting thought patterns from time to time, but because thoughts drive feelings and behavior, it is important to learn to harness those negative thoughts and replace them with more positive thoughts based on reality. It is absolutely true that when we choose to pay attention to the positive aspects of life, this thought pattern orients our body-mind system towards behaviors that invite success.
Start by examining those pesky little “what if” questions that come to mind. Questions like, “What if I invest in this form of advertising and it doesn’t work?” “What if I open my own office and I can’t get enough business to pay the rent?” These are the kinds of fear-based questions that will keep you in your comfort zone. Take advantage of those questions and replace them with positive “what if” questions. “What if I write a few articles about my area of expertise and find that I really enjoy it?” “What if I spoke at an association meeting and could communicate my passion for my work?”
2. Overcome fear with action. Use your fears to challenge yourself to new heights. The best antidote to fear is to act. Take an adventurous approach to everything you fear. Are you afraid to call that successful entrepreneur who could help you? Just do it: jot down a quick script, practice saying it out loud, and then pick up that phone and call. Are you afraid to speak in front of groups? Perhaps you could join Toast Masters and learn to speak in a group where everyone else is also learning. The crazy thing about fear is that it is an emotion that is rarely based on truth. Don’t let a distorted version of reality stop you from making a profit, start taking action and overcome fear.
3. Imagine reaching the next level of success. The brain can more easily create new neural pathways when we engage as many senses as possible, so create a detailed mental movie. What would it look like when you hit that big goal? What kinds of sights, smells, tastes, and feelings will you experience once you reach that goal? Take a few 5 minute breaks throughout the day to relax with deep breaths and run your mental movie. The more you imagine achieving your goal, the more likely you are to step out of your comfort zone to create the new thoughts and behaviors necessary to be successful.
4. Take up a hobby or sport that takes you out of your comfort zone. Some entrepreneurs go skydiving or windsurfing; This allows them to experience the mind-body sensation state of doing something new and overcoming fear. You don’t have to take up a high-risk hobby or sport to step out of your comfort zone. You can try something as simple as walking a little longer or higher than usual, taking a sculpting class, painting a picture without worrying about the outcome, or joining a community softball team.
The emotional and mental experience of trying a new hobby or sport will translate into an expanded view of your business. It will make it easier to try new approaches, have new thoughts, and try new ways of doing business.
5. Invest money in your business. When times are tight, our knee-jerk reaction is to tend to cut our budget for marketing, research and development, and new equipment or software. Rather than give in to the temptation to cut back on growth spending, find some smart ways to invest in your business that signal to your own psyche that you are willing to put your money where your mouth is. This takes us out of our comfort zone by growing our faith in ourselves and our business, as well as putting a little skin in the game.
Now, I have moved to another adventure zone: I added small business coaching that has taken me out of the comfort zone of simply practicing Marriage and Family Therapy. Now people depend on me to help them combine their talents, gifts and passion to create the business of their dreams.
An important part of this process is self-discovery. I use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator to help people discover their unique personality traits so they can leverage their strengths and find ways to work with their weaknesses. Your personality will determine, to some extent, how much risk you are willing to take, how good you are at taking risks, and how you can best get out of your own personal comfort zone.
If you need help getting out of your comfort zone, one of the best ways to get support is to hire a coach, mentor, consultant, or an objective person who will help you set new goals and reach for the stars.
