Like it or not, we all have comfort zones—those safe spaces where your behaviors fit a pattern that minimizes stress and risk.
Comfort zones provide a sense of familiarity, mental security and certainty. It’s that happy place where the brain releases feel-good chemicals: dopamine and serotonin.
Although our comfort zone is a happy place to be - we should not be happy living there because there is no growth in your comfort zone.
Author, Neale Walsch said it best: “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”
In his TEDx Talk, Kuda Biza, co-founder of #ThisIsMyEra, talks about the benefits of constantly stepping outside your comfort zone.
In this talk, Kuda dives into the SPEAR Method - a framework that helps you achieve growth by consistently stepping outside your comfort zone. This method is the basis of his book.
Here are the 5 Steps of the S.P.E.A.R. Method:
- Seek Your Purpose: having clarity on your purpose, helps you win the battle with your brain when trying to step outside your comfort zone.
- Plan: As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail. So we already know that our brain will fight us when we attempt to go beyond your comfort zone – so having a plan in place on what to do in those moments of truth will reduce anxiety and increase your chances of success. Planning is the equivalent of sharpening the spearhead so you can easily pierce through the barrier.
- Execute: It doesn’t help if you create a plan but never actually get to execute the plan. Taking action is the thrust you give your spear as you launch it. The more consistent action you take, the more velocity (and force) your spear has.
- Achieve: The first, and probably most important, achievement is taking that first step outside your comfort zone because it is in that moment that you start to grow.
- Repeat: This is the 8th wonder right here. Like how compound interest works in finance – consistent action will result in exponential growth over time. Make it a habit to take a conscious risk and do something outside your comfort zone every day. Conscious risk-taking doesn’t have to be something extreme like climbing Mt. Everest (it could be – depending on who you are). But it can be as simple as taking a cold shower in the morning, running an extra mile. By constantly stepping outside your comfort zone, you’ll build that resilience muscle and the stronger that muscle gets, the more growth you will experience and the greater the results you will achieve.
Hope you enjoy watching the TEDx by Kuda and if you want to grab his book: The S.P.E.A.R. Method - you can grab it here:
