The thing about our ego, which happens to be the facilitator of what lives in the subconscious, is that the comfort zone is home. The ego will do anything to keep you in that comfort zone, with it’s biggest tactics reliant on limiting beliefs and fears. It does this because the ego part of your mind deems the comfort zone the safe zone, and the ego’s biggest concern is keeping you safe, regardless of what that means for your overall happiness and well being. Whether you’ve liked it or not, what you have been doing up until this point has worked in keeping you safe and alive, which means, in the eyes of the ego, there is no reason to change, grow, or step out of that comfort zone.
The ego doesn’t necessarily want you to be miserable, but it also doesn’t necessarily care about your happiness. It’s sole concern is keeping you safe – whether that be literally keeping you alive, or protecting you from ridicule, judgement, and hurt from others.
That being why you have become so comfortable in your discomfort. Despite the fact that you may feel uncomfortable in your current life circumstances, it is what is known, and therefore, it is what is comfortable.
This also being why it feels so hard to break out of the comfort zone, and shift your current life circumstances, despite how badly you may want to. Knowing this is what’s happening is the first step to being able to move out of it.
It’s also important to note that trying to shatter your comfort zone and the limits of your ego in one foul swoop is not the way to go. This is going to cause the ego to throw a tantrum of epic proportions, which will lead to massive stress, anxiety, overwhelm, and even potentially depression. It can lead to “failure” and slipping back into that comfort zone which will cause any and all limiting beliefs surrounding failure to be screamed from the rooftops of your brain with a megaphone. And this can lead to more deeply solidifying those limiting beliefs, and even the formation of a belief that you’re not good enough to succeed at change and growth, so why bother trying again?
Instead, here are a few other tactics you can use to start moving yourself out of the uncomfortable comfort zone…
Name Your Ego
This helps to disidentify you from the ego (which is not who you are, it is simply a perpetrator of conditioned mind patterns). So when limiting beliefs and thoughts come forth, you can separate yourself from them. It is also a great tactic to use to start an inner dialogue with this voice in your head – thanking it for trying to keep you safe, but letting it know you are choosing not to follow it’s lead. My ego’s name is Mona.
Slow and Steady
The best way to start stepping out of your comfort zone is slowly. Start doing minor things that push you just a little bit outside your comfort zone. Get used to putting a foot outside the line of comfort and showing yourself that it is safe to do so, but also that you are capable of doing so. The more comfortable you get in getting uncomfortable (in a way that promotes growth), the easier it will become to take bigger steps outside the comfort zone because the easier it will become to identify when the ego pipes up and what they are saying to stop you. This will also slowly begin to shift your beliefs, namely the limiting ones.
Awareness
As you take the steps out of your comfort zone and start doing things to promote your growth & forward motion, practice awareness of the ego’s voice. What thoughts come through? What limiting beliefs get hollered? What fears try to stop you? The more you become aware in this manner, the more you will be able to move forward without allowing these things to stop you from doing so. In addition, you will then become aware of what beliefs live within you that are not serving you and thus need healing & rewiring.
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It’s important to understand that this will be uncomfortable and even scary. But I encourage you to ask yourself which discomfort you would rather face, and which discomfort will serve you in the long run… the discomfort of staying in your comfort zone or the discomfort of stepping out of it in the name of growth, healing, and the beautiful changes you wish to bring forth?
It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.
With endless love and good vibes,
Ash xx
