The Comfort Zone – Shallow Motivational Tip 1

We live in a sound bite world where popular culture and trends sometimes defy common sense. Catchy phrases are framed and hung on our walls to give us motivation to excel above the normal, to give courage when we have fear, to overcome insurmountable obstacles, and to make tons of money for the slogan companies that print and frame them. If there is a personalized meaning to any of these shiny placards, it can provide personal inspiration when the context is actually personal, recognized and appropriate. It is naïve to believe that there is a one-size-fits all message that will be meaningful to the masses, but we devour these cliché riddled slogans as if they are gifts from the gods. Whatever happened to analyzing problems and rejecting meaningless advice? We elect politicians to office based on sound bite logic, so we are already culturally off guard to applying any amount of brain power to rational thinking.

There are many ways to represent the popular buzz word phrase that people need to get outside of their comfort zone in order to be productive. One popular motivational graph shows two circles that do not intersect… the small circle is labeled “Comfort Zone” and the larger one is labeled “Where the Magic Happens.” Anything that can be graphed implies some sort of scientific believability that it must be true. These symbolic references are probably useful to some part of the population and it is useful to think in terms of understandable objects to give meaning to a particular management point. If thinking stops with the graphic and does not go beyond, lazy thinking concludes that this is the final answer.

Comfort Zones Are Not Bad – The subtle message when the slogan is taken at face value is that remaining in the comfort zone is wrong for decision makers. In fact, once the effort has been made to establish the optimal comfort zone this is the most efficient way to work. Skills operate at maximum efficiency and to push beyond the boundaries can adversely impact performance. Rather than leap over comfort boundaries and suffer catastrophic results, visualizing that goal on the other side and enhancing skills will expand the boundaries naturally.

Highly Successful People Assess Risks – Probing the boundaries of the comfort zone can be productive in finding the least costly method of breaching the wall and perhaps even determining if a wall breach is necessary. It takes a thoughtful and analytical mind to make the necessary choices to decide to live outside of the comfort zone. Some people can handle this anxiety for short periods of time and some cannot survive. A management push through the boundary without proper mental conditioning will fail every time.

Personality Types Determine Optimal Risk – Not everybody belongs outside of the comfort zone. The extraverted personality is often the explorer that plants a flag in a new concept. Those who follow will build on their successes to surpass the original discovery. Most people are at least borderline introverts. They make the majority of decisions involving detailed thinking and make it possible for further exploration to begin. Both types of personalities are necessary and their specific needs must be developed and rewarded.

Managers who accept the principle of pushing themselves outside of the comfort zone cannot expect others to follow without creating a stressful environment. Stop, look and listen. What tools do employees need to leap over walls or expand them?

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