Change begins at the end of your comfort zone. But it’s much easier said than done. You work so hard to start your business, and when it’s finally growing at a steady pace, you ought to feel relaxed. But there’s new competition always trying to take your place and push you down.
To counter that, you must keep evolving, keep finding new avenues to improve and strive to be better. That can only happen when you keep experimenting. You might be required to find a new market for your product and spend on installing new technology. The art of taking risks also requires you to get out of your comfort zone.
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Why is the comfort zone an entrepreneur’s enemy?
A comfort zone is a set of people, materials, and environment that provides you with optimum comfort, if not happiness. This space may not take you anywhere, but you would not want to leave it physically or mentally. Take, for instance, the prospect of shifting your business to a new state.
The market in that state is flourishing. But something will prevent you from taking that step. This “something” is the comfort zone. The wholesalers, customers, your business’s location, and everything else are well settled. Moving elsewhere could be a deadly situation to be in.
But when you start avoiding this situation like the plague, you end up in a stagnant pool of uninteresting business methods that soon become outdated. This stagnancy pushes you back until you lose all relevance. It’s your business’ worst enemy.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to let this enemy grow. Below, we have covered some cool methods that will push you out of your comfort zone and inject new life into your business.
Ways to get out of your Comfort Zone
- Stop Overthinking
- Read a Lot
- Recognize the Rut
- Incorporate New Technology
- Choose New Ways to Fund your Ideas
- Set Short-term Goals
- Consistency Rewards
- Release Control
- Change Your Working Environment
- Open Up
1. Stop Overthinking
How many times do you think more than once before calling the CEO of a company or a bigshot client? The prospect may seem daunting as you fear rejection. You may consider letting things remain as they are. As a result, you withdraw from a prospective market and never find out what lies at the other end.
While your decisions must be well thought-out, you must stop overthinking and avoiding daunting situations. Start with one phone call a day. Expand when needed, pull back from dull markets, or launch that never-seen-before product you are confident in. Ask for a discount. Capitalize on opportunities whenever they come. And if they don’t, go ahead and create them. Above all, don’t stop moving forward with your daring business ideas.
2. Read a Lot
Living in the same circle, working in the same market, and dealing with similar people every day can bring your hunger for learning to a halt. Redundancy can prevent you from seeing beyond and going the extra mile to do something new.
Try to read inspirational stories that urge you to think beyond your little circle. When you start thinking of the world beyond, you get the hunger to dive into it. You can also read about local success stories, business methodologies, or a daring new venture from a competitor. As you expand your learning horizons, your brain will start finding opportunities to grow. It will make you ready to make a move.
3. Recognize the Rut
When was the last time you felt afraid or nervous? Did you feel scared while signing that latest merger or acquisition document? Or did the last product launch of your brand make you jittery? Well, that’s a situation in a business environment that you want to see yourself in every day.
Remember, all business environments are cutthroat. The moment you stop feeling the fear, you’re in a rut that you need to get out of ASAP. If that happens, start thinking about why you aren’t getting as excited or nervous. To get out of the comfort zone, you need to realize that you are in one, and a lack of fear is a clear signal of you being in the comfort zone.
4. Incorporate New Technology
Continuing to use age-old software and hardware systems is also akin to a mental block. You are comfortable with using the same invoicing software. So what? There might be something better and far more efficient that you haven’t learned yet. Keep learning and incorporating new technology in your business strategy as much as possible, even if it’s uncomfortable at first.
5. Choose New Ways to Fund your Ideas
Is going to your investors easy when you want to develop a new idea?
Maybe yes. But does it limit your creativity in any form? Do not just stick to tried and tested funding strategies for your business, especially if they prove creatively restrictive. Take a loan or use savings. Don’t be scared to take financial risks if you’re confident about the viability of your ideas.
6. Set Short-term Goals
Taking too many massive steps at once might push you further back into your comfort zone as you start becoming more scared. Therefore, always target short-term growth over giant leaps. Set one goal or risk you want to conquer and give yourself a timeframe for it. Then, act to achieve your goal within the stipulated timeframe and then move on to the next big step.
7. Consistency Rewards
As you take baby steps and small risks associated with your business, do not forego consistency. You’ll be back in the rut again if you don’t keep taking these risks, improving upon ideas, and exploring diverse horizons. Be consistent even with your risk-taking, and you will be out of your comfort zone very soon.
8. Release Control
Love controlling everything in your business? Why? Because everything seems to work smoothly under you? Remember that even though things might be running well, for now, you are overburdened and not free to foster new and exciting ideas. Transfer some of the control you have to other trustworthy employees and free yourself up for some experimenting. It might be unsettling in the beginning, but you’ll soon be less stressed and full of new things to do.
9. Change Your Working Environment
Sometimes, merely changing the place you work can have dramatic effects on your creative thinking. Buy a new desk, revamp your office walls, or move your workspace to a different location altogether. You might think that all this is unnecessary, but that’s just your comfort zone speaking. Once you are in a new place, your mind will indeed feel refreshed and ready to take on untouched thoughts.
10. Open Up
As an entrepreneur, your team is your most powerful support system. It might be tempting to keep your business secrets to yourself. But unless it’s something that should be absolutely confidential, share it with the people you work with. Sometimes, they might be the ones bringing in a new perspective that changes your entire outlook and pushes you to get out of your comfort zone.
Parting Words
Once you learn how to get out of comfort zone, you’ll be able to reap rich dividends like grabbing a prized client, expanding your business, or improving your public image. Getting out of your comfort zone will give you a two-fold benefit, helping you grow personally and professionally. So, follow the above tips religiously and develop more of your own to grow out of your comfortable space and into an exciting business world.
