Practice for life

I ran a training session on coaching skills for a group of secondary school teachers yesterday.

One of the exercises they liked best was one on comfort zones. 

After we all discussed and agreed what a comfort zone was, I had one group think of what keep us all in our comfort zones, another group came up with the benefits of stepping outside our comfort zones, while a third thought of what helps us step outside our comfort zones.

There was a lot of conversation around this exercise, and I think it made them realise where they'd been critical of some students staying in their comfort zones and then blaming others for why they stayed there, that in a way the teachers have been doing the same thing.

We all stay in our comfort zones because it's safe and we're unlikely to experience failure, be embarrassed or feel stupid.

When we think about it we realise that growth, excitement, new experiences and realising that we can do things we didn't previously think we could, happens exclusively outside our comfort zones. 

And yet it's still hard. The pain of stepping out and facing our fears is greater than the pain of staying where we are.

But there are things we can do to help ourselves and help others leave their comfort zones - make it safe, find role models, find people that believe in us and don't think we're failures just because we fail at something.

Getting out of bed while the world still sleeps and running a mile every morning takes me out of my comfort zone every single day.

It's great practice for life! :)