Familiarity provides a sense of comfort. We tend to feel comfortable in a certain environment and around a certain set of people because we fear change. But even if you feel completely contended in your comfort zone, you can’t deny the fact that there lies no fun or adventure in it. If you wish to add excitement and zest in your life, breaking out of your comfort zone is the only way to go.

Stepping out of the shell that seems to be protecting you might be difficult at first, but there’s no better way to make yourself stronger and happier as a person. When you take up new challenges and explore the unexplored areas of life, you learn a lot about yourself too.

As someone who feared leaving home for higher studies, I can tell you that being able to shed away that fear has been the thing I’m really proud of. I love my family like all of us do, but there’s a world full of challenges out there that has the potential to show us who we truly are. Holding yourself back might make you feel happy for a while, but won’t you be bored sitting in a confined space which can barely give you any new experiences?

If you are willing to try something new but scared to do so, go through the following set of steps to be able to help yourself break out of the shell:

1. Get the motivation: Know what positive changes might happen in your life if you step out of your comfort zone to try something new. If you are afraid to take up a job opportunity because it requires you to move to a new city, think about how this move can positively impact your career and financial situation. Once you foresee the rewards of making the move, you will learn to get comfortable with the change.

2. Know your fears: Sit and decide what fears you the most. Do you fear talking to people in a formal gathering? Do you feel afraid of asking questions in class because you might be judged? Are you afraid to try something new because you are comfortable being where you are? Knowing your fears is extremely important to know where your boundaries lie and how they can be pushed.

3. Be Informed: Having no knowledge about a subject is bound to make your feel uncomfortable about it. When you have a significant amount of information about something, you will feel confident and less scary while dealing with it.

4. Start small: You don’t need to go all out at once to take up a new challenge. Allow yourself to take baby steps by gradually pushing the boundaries and slowly getting comfortable with the changes. Remember that taking baby steps out of your comfort zone is way better than being in a shell that won’t ever allow you to grow.

5. Create a plan: If you have a fear of stepping out of your comfort zone, plan in advance as to how you will go about addressing the problem. Start with what looks the easiest thing to do and slowly expand the horizon to include the difficult ones.

6. Remember the positive experiences: Recall the time when you tried something new and how it made you feel. Remember all the instances when you succeeded and were able to shed your fears. Your past positive experiences exist with you as a reminder that you have done it and can do it again.

7. Mental Conditioning: Practice everything that you fear to condition your mind to accept the changes no matter how difficult things might look on the surface. When you get used to doing the uncomfortable stuff, you learn to get comfortable in it. It’s a great way to open your mind to new opportunities without experiencing the fear of change.

8. Remain positive: When the new challenges begin to scare you, tell yourself that backing off isn’t an option. Accept that failure is a part of life and that unfavorable outcomes are a part of the process of trying something new. The fact that you stepped out of your comfort zone to grab an opportunity will motivate you to do the same again and again no matter how many times you fail.

9. Learn that it’s a continuous process: You have to keep expanding your comfort zone and present yourself with new opportunities. Take up new challenges every now and then and keep doing the things that you fear until you get comfortable doing them.

10. Don’t overthink: Overthinking will force you to over-analyse the things. The cons will slowly take over the pros and you will be frightened to get outside your comfort zone if you are used to overthinking.

11. Don’t worry about what others may think of you: You feel ready to take up a challenge and you know what good lies ahead of you but the only thing that is holding you back is the fear of being a subject of gossip among your colleagues or relatives. If so is the case, then you my friend, need to know that if there’s anyone who stands the chance of losing or gaining something from what you choose to do in life, it’s you. Then why consider what others might feel or say about what you do?

Real comfort can’t be found in sticking along to something that makes you feel safe. Comfort is that what you experience when you undertake the risks that lead you to a better life and to being a more fulfilled individual. So push your limits and discover the new you!