Goodbye, Comfort Zone

“Get out of your comfort zone” has become a bit of a tagline nowadays. Everyone loves to claim that they do it, but how many of us actually make it a priority in our lives? 

For me, getting out of my comfort zone was not a choice – it was a necessity. Coming out of school, I didn’t have the funds to attend university. My background of disadvantage pushed me to jump into whatever I could to make money. Since then, I’ve been living in a space of constantly pushing my own limits. When I started to realise the immense potential that existed outside my comfort zone, I simply had to keep going. 

Getting out of your comfort zone is the best investment you can make to yourself. It forces you to go beyond your perceived limits and reach new heights. Importantly, you gain a better understanding of yourself,  questioning how much you’re able to achieve, and how much further you might be able to push. In the world of business, where limits get tested every day, the more confident you are in playing outside your comfort zone, the more you’ll have the upperhand. 

Of course, some people are just primed to constantly seek new experiences. I’m one such person who gets bored very easily outside of work. I constantly need to have new experiences. This helps me keep going, stay interested, stay creative. 

Switching Things Up

In my career, I’ve hopped between various industries. Typically, people worry that they’ll be perceived negatively, or even seem less credible. I hold the view that my varied experience is actually my biggest advantage. I’ve gained valuable insights from my various roles in different industries, which I reinvest into what I am currently doing. I am also able to connect the dots very quickly.

So you have your eyes set on a new challenge to push you out of familiar territory. But the thought of actually doing it feels overwhelming, almost ridiculously impossible. You try for a few days, then give up. Does this sound familiar to you? 

The answer is to break up your big goal into smaller achievable goals. Simplify your goal to a point of doing one one, achievable task towards that goal per day. For example, go for a 1km run, or do 10 pushups. Once you’ve achieved that step and it feels comfortable to you, you can add on to it. Slowly, over time, these small steps will take you closer to your big goal. 

Professionally, I love breaking up a big project into small, achievable steps. I work on weekly, monthly, or quarterly sprints as much as I can. If you focus on everything you want to do outside of what you’re currently doing, it can be very daunting. It’s possible that you’d be discouraged from even trying. Smaller steps equal smaller wins, which build up confidence towards achieving larger objectives. 

Let’s look at a personal example. I had never been very athletic growing up, I certainly wasn’t a runner. Ten years ago, I told my wife I wanted to take up running and would compete in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. This was a 89.9km ultramarathon, and I would have a year to prepare for it. My wife thought this was ridiculous. After all, I couldn’t even run 2km at that point. 

So I broke my 89.9km goal into small achievable steps. The first week, I would just run 2km. The following week, I would gradually increase the distance. Slowly, I worked my way up to 5km, and eventually 10, and so on. As I started to beat my own limits, it became a bit of an obsession. I started to feed off these little wins: each time I broke a barrier, I felt a great sense of achievement. 

A year later, when I ended up qualifying for the Comrades Marathon, the farthest I’d run was 56km. How would I make it to 89.9? I simply broke up the race into 10km segments. Each time I completed a segment, I would celebrate by doing a little jump or patting myself on the chest or shoulder. I was able to finish the race, and went on to run three more in the future. 

The lesson? Break big goals up into small steps, and keep pushing forward.

Calculated Risks

Professionally, jumping out of your comfort zone will mean taking calculated risks. In the fast-changing landscape of business, you won’t be able to fully predict what is going to happen in the next six months or year.  

What you can do is focus on the things you can control. Do enough research to understand the new territory you’re breaking into. Let’s say you’re launching a product in a new market. You should spend time in that place, speak to people, gain an understanding of cultural nuances, and work that back into your process. Jumping out of your comfort zone takes planning and research. 

That said, you will never truly be fully prepared. There’s a saying that entrepreneurship is like jumping off a cliff and building a plane on your way down. At some point – when you’ve done your research and preparation – that you’ll just have to close your eyes and take the plunge. Trust that you’ll figure it out as you go along. 

Curb That Ego

Nobody sets out to fail, not even people in the tech world who celebrate failing. But failure really is the best teacher. Once you’ve failed, you will have a whole arsenal of learning that will give you the fuel to pick yourself and move forward. The learning that comes from learning is hard to duplicate, and the resilience you gain cannot be bought. 

That said, don’t let your ego be your biggest enemy. The only way to stay open to new experiences and be curious through your ups and downs is to stay humble. Never assume that you know it all, because that’s when you stop learning. 

Habits and Mindsets

Put health at the forefront of your goals. If you’re not sleeping well and are ill, no amount of self-improvement books, podcasts, or advice will help you. Try and remain as healthy as possible. Commit to a regular sleep pattern as much as you can. While you may not always be able to stick to it, you will more or less be functioning at a more optimal state if you’re well-rested. You can forget goal crushing if your brain is shutting down. 

These good habits will help you at work as well. When I started exercising, I noticed the positive effects it had on my work. Exercise is a way to train both your body and mind. I started pushing my limits at work on a weekly basis. I took note of my little successes, which added up over time to create monumental change – the kind of change that brought me from South Africa to Singapore! 

Team Dynamics: Striking a Balance

If you’re working in the corporate world, it’s important that you strike a balance between pushing towards the unknown and respecting the processes that you need to follow on a day-to-day basis. 

When I first entered the corporate world three years ago in Singapore, I wanted to go about my role as though I were operating on my own. However, this might be disruptive to the rest of the team. Based on the culture and dynamics of the team you work in, you might have to adapt your approach to ensure smooth sailing. 

If you’re a senior leader, work on building a culture that celebrates some level of risk-taking and forward thinking. It’s also up to you to put together a team with diverse personalities. Someone like me is very comfortable with jumping out of my comfort zone and motivating my team to do the same. Yet my project management and organisational skills may not be the best. So I often rely on the support of a great project manager and delivery manager to execute on key projects. 

Ultimately, you need a balance of people who are curious and looking for ways to push the limits as well as those who lean towards stability and steady progress. With the right combination in a team, the sky’s the limit.

1 Set Achievable Challenges

Break a big challenge into small achievable goals. Celebrate the small wins, and work your way up towards the larger objectives. This way you won’t be overwhelmed. 

2 Throw Ego Out the Door

Dropping your ego opens the door for curiosity, which in turn leads to new experiences. Get involved, ask questions, and accept that you won’t always be the smartest person in the room. 

3 Jump Straight In

Get off the couch and go. Jump off the cliff and start building a plane on the way down. It’s true that you’ll never be “ready” to get out of your comfort zone, but at some point, you’ll just have to jump.