Don't get out of your comfort zone

Growing inside of your comfort zone
Strange?...

People say; “just outside of your comfort zone is where tremendous opportunities and growth lie” and I say “NO!” Growth actually lies deep within you and a lot of it can come from your comfort zone. Sounds nice for the lazy ones right? Well not really, because to actually make that effort to explore the growth opportunities that lie within one’s comfort zone requires much more scrutiny, learning and understanding of every aspect of life as well as individual abilities.

If I were to ask you what are your hobbies, I surely would get several stereotype replies like reading, writing, photography, cooking, etc. and several of them would have nothing to do with your day-to-day lives…for that matter, they may not even form any significant part of your weekend. Hmmm, but then what do you really do simply liking them, if in reality you did nothing about it?

My mom always told me (and she still does), that ‘if you like something, then learn it and do something about it. Simply saying that you like a particular thing makes no real sense.” So as a kid, she got me into a habit of sitting down and learning all that I would say, I really liked. In my growing years, I did not quite realise the difference it was making in my life until I started comparing myself to several others as a grown up. Well honestly, one fine day you suddenly do not start comparing yourself with others. It’s kind of a process that gradually happens in your life. So in one such instance, when interacting with one of the random acquaintances, I got into a dialogue on ‘likes and dislikes’ and ‘hobbies’. The gentleman said he likes to grow flowering plants. So I was excited and said, “me too” and gave him a list of plants that I liked and the seasonal plants that I like growing and the reason behind their flowering seasons and so on. I also showed him pictures of my terrace garden and as expected he was happy and excited too. A while later he said he loves good food and we ended up talking about recipes and different taste patterns found across countries and so on. During which I told him about my food blog and interests in food photography and experimental recipes. He was mighty impressed with me and said ‘wow’. Later in the conversation we spoke about a lot of stuff right from my job as an equity analyst to my being a professional photographer to being a blogger, a trekker, a writer, a speaker, a car enthusiast, and so on. And the gentleman was speechless…not that I intended that to happen, nor that I’m trying to boost about it. What he asked me was, “how was it that I knew so many things and could do them well? What provoked me into doing so much?” My answer was that my mom told me to learn all that I liked and I ended up liking so many things in this beautiful world that my learning was and has never been enough. The process is still on.

What grew with all this was nothing but a vast gamut of opportunities. When I earned a bit less as an analyst, I also earned from photography. As I grew in life as well as knowledge to some extent, I wrote media articles, cover stories for magazines, blogs, and so on. With my developing interest and some efficient management of time, I could do a lot more and even earned from it…earned not just money but a lot of contacts, relationships, further knowledge and so on. But did I really go out of my way to do any of these? Did I ever stop being comfortable about it? The answer was ‘NO!’

I always continued doing exactly what I liked. I simply, pursued my hobbies a little better than several others and gained out of it. So, there I was doing so much more and meeting so many fantastic people like you, without actually having to compromise my comfort zone.

What I want to tell you is, that do not try to ruin your comfort for achieving anything. It only adds up to stress that ultimately keeps you away from enjoying your achievements to the fullest. Instead, do more about what you like already and flourish in it. Grow more in what makes you happy because that immense happiness inside of you will be damn contagious and will spread farther than what you may have been able to imagine. You will not just achieve a lot in life but also feel really relaxed, happy and cheerful about it and not be burdened by any kind of discomfort.

Growth is not about stepping out of your comfort zone. It’s about making the best out of your own interests and abilities while being absolutely comfortable and happy about it.