Comfort zone

So the aspect you talked about not feeling safe.

It's very interesting because we talk about comfort zones and a lot of people don't want to push their comfort zone because of that psychological safety factor.

But the item a lot of people realize is they actually hold themselves back.

Yeah, it may feel comfortable, may feel good, but life changes.

You miss out.

Yeah.

What do people get wrong when it comes to the comfort zone thinking that they're going to be okay, let me stay put, and let me not risk it? And then what do they miss out on because they have this mis-idea of the aspect of a comfort zone?

Yeah, and I often think about it as in the terms of paralysis nearly, right? Because oftentimes the comfort zone is really not comfortable.

[laughs] Comfortable.

Uh, let's do rapid fire of comfort zones one after the other, okay?

Yeah.

Warm lights.

on this week's episode there's a moment in our lives where we lose this piece of like what i want to do or we surrender it to like what i have to do

people put the dreams aside 100% agree today for example fighting fires all day long but every day it's like i'm doing what i love which is putting out fires have my own shit you always wanted to be a fireman wow You're advocating for comfort zones.

Well, no, I'm advocating for doing things a proper way and doing things the right way.

That's the disguise of it.

Like, every fucking Saturday.

Sure.

But, like, it's very curated specific things, right? That are, like, based on comfort zones, right? That home is a comfort zone, right? Going and doing this random shit is out of the comfort zone.

Who gives a fuck? What I'm saying is that, like...

嗯。

有一点自在在这个，这个，这个位这样，不知道是不是算是一个 comfort zone。

zone。嗯，不知道。

是啊。

and success say that success is on the other side of your comfort zone.

You know, they say things like, "We must do things that are uncomfortable s- i- in order for us to grow and learn." I just wanted to ask, how does this fit in with the path of least resistance, and following our bliss, and only doing things if they feel good?

It doesn't.

Hello, and welcome to Culture File in the Comfort Zone, the place we go to digest the indigestible, love the unlovable, and generally do whatever doesn't come naturally.

I'm not sure that's 100% accurate, Colum, but, you know, we-- they'll get the idea.

[laughs]

-ment and success say that success is on the other side of your comfort zone.

You know, they say things like, "We must do things that are uncomfortable s- i- in order for us to grow and learn." I just wanted to ask, how does this fit in with the path of least resistance and following our bliss and only doing things if they feel good?

It doesn't.

There are things you can do without wondering how you look while you're doing them and perhaps those places on the map are already clear or illuminated like little pools of light representing everything that already feels normal and you don't have to leave those lights behind growth doesn't require abandoning that which already feels safe.

It just means extending the light a little further, and then a little further again, until What was once outside your comfort zone, gradually, incrementally, becomes part of it.

A comfort zone is never a fixed circle.

It's more like a territory that expands through experience.

And every time you do something slightly unfamiliar and discover that you're still completely okay afterwards, the map of light changes, the boundary moves.

Your comfort zone is not safe.

Your comfort zone is not a safe place.

I know that's not what you were told.

The messaging around comfort zones tends to be gentle.

It's okay to step outside your comfort zone when you're ready.

Growth happens at the edge.

That kind of well-intentioned advice column language you've heard a hundred times.

But I want to be more direct with you today.

You know, I think the big thing is change.

When we look at, you know, how AI is impacting our workplace, for example, there's so many changes that are transpiring, and a lot of people aren't saying, "Hey, we can't do change," or, "We're allergic to change," but they're saying our, our comfort zone, our familiarity, our identity, our certainty is going away.

And they're having to, uh, they're looking for proof that the, the next change, the, you know, adoption, for example, of AI, is gonna work for them.

And we as managers, we as, we as effective change management leaders, we need to recognize in our workplace is that emotional reality.

She said it, theerinherman.com, or add her on LinkedIn if you think she might be right f- to be a speaker at your latest event, or if you n- want to get some of that one-on-one or group help, then go find her, theerinherman.com. And as we're checking out that website, getting ourself educated, Ms. Erin Herman, it's time for the scary part of the podcast where I try to stump you, I try to put you on the spot by asking you about a fun or interesting quote or lesson.

You've already given us so many great quotes and lessons, but as far as a, a podcast episode ender, a grand finale, what comes to mind as far as that fun or interesting quote or lesson?

I think the best quote I've ever heard is, "Don't let your comfort zone become your cage," by Brianna Wiest.

Nice.