6 Ways Successful People Stretch Their Comfort Zones

Truly great entrepreneurs aren't satisfied with comfort. Pushing their own limits is how they get to greatness.

 By Marla Tabaka

Everyone has a so-called “comfort zone.” You know what I’m talking about: that mental space you live in where there are boundaries and you feel a sense of emotional security with your work and your decision making.

What distinguishes successful people from everyone else is what they do with their comfort zone. There are those who are perfectly happy staying warm and cozy in this safe box they’ve built; and then are those who constantly push and test the limits.

You already know which person goes on to be a successful entrepreneur

Now I’m not suggesting that the comfort zone is a bad thing. It’s there for a reason: to protect us. Otherwise we all may be jumping off cliffs and out of airplanes. It also protects us from taking on more stress and anxiety than we are equipped to deal with. But eventually the familiar routine of your comfort zone will keep you from learning, and experiencing new things that are potentially good for us. It is also likely to prevent you from building a thriving business.

So how do you know when your comfort zone is holding you back? Here are a few things you may notice:

·         Excessive stress

·         Boredom

·         Self-criticism

·         Envy

·         Anxiety about your situation

·         Excuses–lots of them!

·         A stagnant, or failing, business

Any of those sound familiar? It’s time for a stretch. Try these baby steps and watch your world grow.

Accept that you are less than perfect.

Are you afraid of what others may think, or of letting someone down? Usually the “rules” we create around how to behave so others will accept us are nothing but self-imposed, ridiculously high standards. Get a little crazy. Do something fun, like dance in the department store (my kids were mortified) or sing at karaoke. Break the illusion of perfection and join the rest of us in the human race.

Break the fear barrier.

So what are you really afraid of? Make a list. Include everything, from fear of spiders to fear of financial devastation. Now make a plan to face your fears one at a time. Begin small. If you have a phobia, for instance, reach out for help to eliminate it. The Emotional Freedom Techniques has an amazing track record of curing phobias. Knock these fears off your list one at a time and celebrate each success.

Get a partner.

There are some things that just aren’t meant to be done alone. For over two years, I’ve had a dream to produce and present an empowering women’s conference. But it remained a dream and nothing more. Then one day my coach said to me, “that’s just not something you take on all by yourself,” and I finally got it. I needed a partner in this endeavor. Sure enough, I found someone within a week and “Make It Happen” is happening this September. It’s amazing how much fun it is to create and I am certainly stretching the limits of my comfort zone. But since I’m no longer alone in this little adventure, I still feel safe (mostly).

(MORE: 5 Negotiation Tips From Steve Jobs)

Is there something you want to do that just shouldn’t be done alone? Find a buddy and make it happen.

Detach and accept.

Your comfort zone keeps you in a very predictable space: You usually know exactly what’s going to happen. A fear of the unknown will keep you stuck forever. So the trick here is to let go of your expectations and accept the results of your actions. Take risks in measured amounts. If you are designing a new consulting program or rolling out a new product, do it in small bits. Don’t go gangbusters and risk losing it all. Gamble with something you are willing to lose. These losses will teach you something, such as how to make the product better or market it differently. Look forward to the outcome, whatever it is.

Hang out with someone different.

Often we choose our friends and peers based on what we have in common. Instead, try to find someone who’s crazier than you. Choosing the company of people who go farther out on the limb will bring out your adventurous side. Be open-minded and observe the benefits of being more daring.

Imagine your success.

If you spend a few minutes each day visualizing your success you will become more willing to take the risks associated with it. Give your brain a break and daydream a bit. You’ll be amazed at the results.

Now go ahead and break those silly rules.

Portability

Very recently came the concept of portability in Mobile telephony. It was to provide the customer the choice of migrating, in case he has service issues with his service provider. Customer retains his identity, his unique number.
I used this service few days back. No sooner, my application got registered with my next service provider; I got a call from my old service provider, seeking reasons for my leaving. The call from service rep. was apologetic with promises of improving all issues that I faced over next 7 days. I guess these promises & apologies were too late. I am now waiting for activation of same number with new provider now.
This experience set me thinking.
The concept of portability has existed for much longer. Employees make choices when they are not happy with their current organization. They look out for opportunities and change jobs to new organizations. That’s employee portability. His perspective. Organization perspective, call it attrition. Some organizations use the more positive term – Retention. Employee is a customer too for the organization. There is concept of internal customer discussed for a long time now.
Who owns the customer / employee after he / she has been acquired by the company? Are there any lessons to be learnt?
Yes of course. In the call I had from service provider, he only made promises to improve the experience, which was too late as I had already got my application submitted (akin to putting in resignation). The caller should have asked me what are those things which we need to improve apart from your reasons shared. He did not do so. He let go of an opportunity to get feedback and perhaps feed it into organization to be able to proactively improve services & retain more customers.
Portability / Attrition can be predicted or forecasted. If it can be, why do organizations and businesses do not consider proactive actions.
Like in case of customer it is fair to ask a question, who owns the employee? Is it HR? Is it the Function Head? Is the ownership shared by HR & Concerned Business/ Function? There are arguments for each of these. The one argument that I have seen most organization throw up to preclude any discussion when an employee quits is:
“Employees do not leave companies they leave their Managers”
To be fair, research does show & prove that, it is one of the top reasons among others, for people to quit jobs. When it happens more often, does it not make the responsibility to treat & go about resolving the challenge? Most often it is seen that, as soon as this argument is put forward, out goes the accountability and pain of Top Management & HR. Abandoning. My guess is that most senior employees in organization extend conveniently this argument to cover up deficiencies related to company culture, talent management etc.
Organizations would do well when they conduct a follow up analysis to highlight managers who have contributed to the highest or critical attrition. (High_PO). I have worked with few organizations and have talked to innumerable professionals but none have confirmed that any Manager was asked to leave because he had the highest attrition in his team.
Organizations need to truly acknowledge attrition (Employee portability) only then the perspectives will change. Till then attrition as a performance indicator is not owned by any. It is akin to orphaning the employee. Literally. So if & when an employee resigns / quits no one sheds a tear. No one owns him. He becomes a statistic. And then again we hear. People leave managers not companies. Think about it from the perspective of organizations facing high attrition at almost 25-30%. Such high attrition means that virtually all the Managers in the companies are to be blamed. Collectively these Managers make an organization.
Organizations now seem to resolving the attrition problem by analysing data as Voluntary and Involuntary Attrition.  That’s reduces the pain and effort a bit. To further distance the issue from HR ,  there is a thought process to measure attrition as only Critical Resignations % (people who have to be retained / have High PO).

 It seems an admittance that HR community did not understand the concept well and measures it all wrong. They have now redefined measurement rather than addressing the issues itself. Most organizations don’t seem to acknowledge it. At their own peril.