Finding ways to move beyond your comfort zone and build resilience

That familiar feeling strikes again, something inside nagging for change or questioning if there isn’t more to life. It could be that you’re bored with the same old weekend routine or perhaps you want an adventure or change of scene. Maybe you’ve hit a wall at work and need a new way to develop. The desire to grow, to transform in some way, is a totally normal feeling, but just as common is the fear of the unknown. You might worry that a change won’t work out, that there’ll be negative consequences or that you’ll let yourself down. By pushing outside your comfort zone, however, it’s possible to overcome these fears and forge long-term resilience, whatever the obstacles.

A comfort zone is a psychological state that most people experience. By engaging in habitual behaviours and avoiding risks that might cause physical or mental strain, you feel safe, relaxed and in control of your life. But trying new things and taking on challenges can be positive, introducing you to new people, activities and opportunities. Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to remain permanently outside of your comfort zone. There’ll be occasions when it makes total sense to avoid challenging yourself, such as after losing a loved one or in the wake of a crisis, and ever yone needs planned breaks where they’re not on constant high alert.

Spending too long in cruise control, though, can have insidious effects on mental health. ‘Often, there is a sense of being in a safe, familiar place, away from the pain that life can bring,’ says Ángela Milena Castillo Rangel, a doctor of psychiatry at the Nueva Granada Military University in Bogotá, Colombia, who helps survivors of trauma to embrace new challenges. But this subconscious avoidance creates tension between comfort and that nagging sense of dissatisfaction, as Ángela explains: ‘Being in a comfort zone, rather than providing comfort, causes psychological pain and stagnation… It is necessary to ask oneself: “What are the activities I frequently use to hide in my comfort zone?”’