I carefully selected a cardboard carton from the cold metal shelf.  Peeping inside the stiff, brown, container, I made sure none of the eggs were busted.

With just one vastly uncoordinated motion of my foot,  I was sprawled across the dirty gas station floor.  I glanced over the eggs still balanced in my arms.  I had saved all but one from my clumsy, doubtful feet.  She was cracked.  The veiny cracks were barely visible, but visible still.

This egg was no different from the rest.  She was no weaker.  She just chose to wear her scars proudly upon her bleached shell.  They told the story of her past.  They told the story of what hurt her.

The others were no stronger than her, only less proud of where they’ve been and where that’s lead to–cradled, shaken in my arms.

She was the strong one.

WHY YOU SHOULD STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE. 

What if I told you that you can dissipate that mental block everyone has every once-in-a-while or even amp up your creativity?  You can.  Have you ever heard of a comfort zone?

What are comfort zones?

A comfort zone is a boundary in which most people feel the safest.  This may be a routine or behavior of you that partake in whether subconsciously or purposely in order to avoid risk or stress.  An example of this is if you are afraid of heights and you take a hot-air-balloon ride.  This is stepping outside of your comfort zone because you are not within your normal area of comfort, but placed in an area that raises stress levels.

Why you should step out of your comfort zone

Comfort zones are called comfort zones for a reason.  They are where you feel the most comfortable, and humans are wired to find the most comfort to reach, ideally, minimal stress.

Regardless of all the bad effects stress reportedly has on the body, there is such thing as healthy stress. 

“Being slightly uncomfortable, whether or not by choice, can push us to achieve goals we never thought we could. But it’s important to remember that we don’t need to challenge ourselves and be productive all the time.  It’s good to step out of our comfort zone. But it’s also good to be able to go back in.” -Alina Tugend, New York Times

This stress raises your adrenaline and attention causing quick thinking.  Eventually, you expose yourself to enough uncomfortable situations over an amount of time that your brain’s quick cognitive thinking improves.

Trying new things out of your normal boundaries can also promote creativity.  By challenging yourself and taking risks, you will be more open to experience thus promoting interests in curiosity, emotion, fantasy, and imagination.  This said, stepping out of your boundaries is what helps us grow.  I’m quite sure that it wasn’t within Benjamin Franklin’s comfort zone to conduct the famous kite experiment.  You can’t evolve your career of life if you stick the same habits and routines.  Psychologist have found that anxiety helps us perform at our peak because our brains, when challenged, rise to the occasion.

Going overboard

Too much stress is a bad thing, yes.  There was once a famous experiment performed on mice.  The experiment found that, to an extent, stimulation (stress) improves performance.  However, eventually the amount of pressure placed on the mice was too great and the performance rate dropped.  Moreover, don’t overload yourself.  Optimal stress reduces productivity and stifles creativity.

The point

All in all, a little stress goes a long way.  Stepping outside your comfort zone stimulates your cognitive abilities and augments the way you react to stressful situations.  Which, overall, is a great outcome.  So, get out there!  Step outside your comfort zone and enhance your performance in everything you do.