In life and at work, we find ourselves in many situations that require us to go beyond our comfort zone. When we are looking to make a change within our workplace, we sometimes have no choice but to push through that uncomfortable feeling. The growth we experience when we move outside our comfort zone can be immense. Keep reading as we share five ways to become more comfortable with being uncomfortable within your leadership or management role.
1. Take More Risks
The only way to get used to being comfortable is to do more activities pushing you outside your comfort zone. If you are constantly drifting through your daily life at work doing activities that don’t challenge you, how will you and your team ever learn and grow? By putting yourself through the experience of doing something uncomfortable, your confidence to tackle new tasks will continue to increase. In the future, you’ll be more willing to try an activity that would have made you feel uncomfortable in the past. Say yes to anything you could do on top of your primary job and explore new possibilities this year.
2. Don’t Compare Yourselves to Others
One of the reasons that so many of us struggle to try something new in the workplace is due to comparison. If you want to make a change in your life and career, you need to focus on your own goals and personal growth. Just because something is easy for you, it may be entirely outside of someone else’s comfort zone. The same is true in reverse, so remember this when taking on a new challenge. Everyone is at a different stage in their career, so focus your energy on you and your team to embrace change and growth.
3. Take Small Steps Each Day
You don’t have to push yourself to the extreme when moving outside your comfort zone. Instead, take small daily steps to challenge yourself and feel more comfortable being uncomfortable. When you constantly expose yourself to new situations, taking on a different challenge at work will become less of a shock. When you take one step every day towards being the best leader you can be, the change in your life will be huge over time. Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you don’t need to tackle every potential life challenge in one week.
4. Work Alongside a Colleague
You don’t have to take on every challenge alone, no matter how high up you are within a company. Find another leader in your organization looking to grow and drive change in your business. You can work together to try new things and support each other. It’s so much easier to take on challenges with someone you trust, and you’ll also bond over this shared experience. You can also encourage your team to embrace change and push them to take on new daily tasks. When everyone is in the same situation and feels out of their comfort zone, you’ll soon find a sense of normality when working together on a shared goal.
5. Acknowledge Your Improvements
When you start pushing through your comfort zone, you’ll notice that your improvements may only be minor. However, the more you reflect on your achievements, the more you’ll notice your progress. Each week, take the time to journal for five to ten minutes about the changes you’ve made and the tasks you undertook that week to make yourself feel uncomfortable. Over the next few weeks and months, you’ll see a massive shift in your mental state and notice that you’ve started embracing change and uncertainty.
Following these five steps, you’ll regularly push yourself out of your comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to change your life and career; you’ll never progress from where you are now. It can be so tempting to drift on at your current management level, but if you want to make positive changes in your organization and career, you need to take control of your destiny. The sooner you challenge yourself and take more risks at work, the more likely you’ll get to where you want to be by the end of the year.
