Nearly everyone has things in their lives they want to change. Perhaps you have a dream you want to achieve – make more money, become your own boss, lose weight, get fit, have better relationships…  Or perhaps change happens to you – you lose your job, your significant other leaves you,  you or someone in your life gets ill… Creating or experiencing change in your life always involves moving from a place where you are comfortable with the rules and decisions to a place where you aren’t. It’s about moving from your Comfort Zone to your Courage Zone!   Comfort to Courage is here to help you understand the process of change, how to cope with it and move through change with greater ease!

The website is broken down into the following general topics:

• Comfort to Courage – general articles and blogs related to moving from your comfort zone to your courage zone.
• Mind – articles and blogs related to changing your thought processes, mood and anything related to your mind.
• Body – articles and blogs related to changing things about your body: weight, fitness, overall health, etc.
• Soul – articles and blogs related to changing things about our “soul”: the spiritual and moral parts of yourself.
• Relationships – articles and blogs related to change in the relationships in your life!
• Reviews – articles and posts about products, books and websites that are related to change.
• My Blog – posts related to my personal thoughts and progress through change!

You can also find articles and information related to more specific topics by searching the site (upper right hand corner of each page) or clicking on a category at the bottom of the page.

Your comfort zone is that psychological place in your mind, that set of neural pathways most commonly used, which represent the most common actions, reactions, and interactions in your life. It is that artificial boundary that you have in your life that makes you feel safe and secure. You also know that you need to step out of your comfort zone if you want to grow, thrive and achieve.  So in order to do this you need to know how to measure your comfort zone

Where is the Edge of Your Comfort Zone?

In order to step out of your comfort zone you need to know where it ends. You need to understand where you are limited and what is limiting you in your progress forward.

You probably already have some idea where the edges of your comfort zone are, for some things at least. You can feel when you step out of your comfort zone – you start to feel uncertain about what you are doing and what is going to happen. You feel excitement and also fear about the future. You feel excitement because doing something new is exciting; it is a new opportunity. You feel fear because you don’t know how to do it so you might not do it right.

You also behave a certain way when you step out of your comfort zone. Maybe you start to procrastinate about things, maybe you have a certain set of negative self talk, or perhaps you become irritable. Those sort of behaviors are natural and allow you to notice being out of your comfort zone.

It is important to remember a few things when you step out of your comfort zone

• You can succeed!
• The only way to succeed is to be out of your comfort zone.
• It is OK if you fail – it is part of the process and not the end of the world.
• You can step back into your comfort zone if you have to and take a break – just don’t stay there

How To Measure Your Comfort Zone

Marcus Taylor (link to his page) developed the world’s first comfort zone measurement tool – the comfort zone survey. This survey gives you a measurement of the size of your comfort zone. He developed the survey to make more people aware of comfort zones and to explore comfort zones. He describes his measurement survey, how it was developed and what he learned in the video below.

You can measure your Comfort Zone at Marcus Taylor’s website, What is My Comfort Zone.  It takes about 5 minutes to complete and measures your overall comfort zone by averaging three comfort zones: your professional comfort zone, your adrenaline comfort zone and your lifestyle comfort zone. Take the survey and then come back to compare to the average values in each area!

Taylor, Marcus. Average Adrenaline, Professional, and Lifestyle Comfort Zones by Age (16-50 Years). Digital image. How Does Your Score Compare? N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2015. <http://www.whatismycomfortzone.com/comfort-zone-trends/>.

Mr. Taylor was able to draw some interesting conclusions from the data obtained in his “What is My Comfort Zone” project. He noted that people with larger comfort zones (as measured by his survey) earned more money. He also noted that males had larger overall comfort zones on average than females. Females had larger “lifestyle” comfort zones, but males had larger “adrenaline” and “professional” comfort zones. Our comfort zones also change as we age depending on how we continue to challenge ourselves.

This groundbreaking work is the first step in allowing you to explore and monitor your  comfort zone expansion! Take the time to think about and measure your comfort zone and see what you can learn about yourself.  Regardless of what your current comfort zone is, you can always grow and expand it!  Getting use to stepping out of your comfort zone allows you to grow and thrive.  It gets easier each time you do it!  So take the step!

Well your comfort zone is truly wonderful. It is great that it exists. It gives you a safe and secure place to be at times and you need that.  When life becomes overwhelming or you just need to rest, you can go to the places you normally go to, do the things you normally do, eat your comfort food and hang out in your comfort zone. But you cannot live there… it is a very limiting place to live in all the time. It can limit nearly all aspects of your life: your goals, creativity and mental and emotional capacity to handle stressful situations, and many more aspects of your life.

6 Great Reasons to Leave Your Comfort Zone

You Can Reach Your Goals and Achieve Your Dreams

Your comfort zone consists of all the things you already do. If you want something different, then you have to do something different. If you could reach your goals by doing what you are already doing then you would already have reached them. There is absolutely no way to achieve your goals unless you step out of your comfort zone. That little bit of discomfort and anxiety lets us know we are doing something new, change is happening and that is GREAT!

You Can GROW Your Comfort Zone

There is a certain amount of truth to the saying “Use it or Loose it.” In the case of your comfort zone, if you are not pushing the edges of it, it will tend to shrink. Trying new things, stepping outside your comfort zone, and allowing yourself to experience them allows your mind to become familiar with the new things. After repeating them, these new things soon become part of your New Comfort Zone and it grows. Then you get to try something new again!

You Can Learn to Deal With Change Better

When you leave your comfort zone you experience a certain type of stress and anxiety. The further out of our comfort zone you step the greater the level of stress and anxiety. If you never feel this type of stress and anxiety it can be scary and inhibit you from taking action.

The sad part about life is that sometimes it pushes you out of your comfort zone. You loose our jobs, have an accident, someone close to you gets sick, you need a new car, have to move… those parts of life just happen to you. These events push you out of your comfort zone and it feels bad. Not only are you feeling all the bad emotions of the event – worry, sadness, grief – you are also feeling that type of stress and anxiety of being in a situation you are not familiar with, of being outside your comfort zone

If you have a habit of stepping outside your comfort zone then you are familiar with those feelings. You are actually more comfortable with being outside your comfort zone. You know that you can respond to the situation and take the necessary action which will help you get through that rough spot in your life. You KNOW you can do it!

You Can Stop Procrastinating

You have felt it, that pull in that prevents you from doing that task. That thought that tells you that you can do that later or even tomorrow. That is the call of your comfort zone, keeping you in the rut of your life.

Every time you do something you activate certain a neural pathway in your mind. If you repeatedly do something, the neural pathway gets stronger and stronger and it feels easier and easier to use.  Your most commonly used neural pathways are the ones that feel comfortable and make up you comfort zone.

So to stop procrastination you need to weaken the old neural pathway and strengthen a new neural pathway. You need to do step out of your comfort zone and do something different. That’s all that is happening and that’s all it takes!.

You Can be More Creative

Creativity requires stepping outside your comfort zone. Not only is there evidence  that creative minds embraced stepping out of their comfort zone, but it also just makes sense. Being creative by its very nature means doing something different. Doing something different means stepping out of our comfort zone and feeling that bit of discomfort. Feeling that bit of doubt that your new idea will work. No one who has ever done anything new has done it while they were in their comfort zone! So be take a step and be creative!

You Can Strengthen New Neural Pathways and Create New Habits

So the actions we take everyday are the habits we have, the neural pathways we use regularly. A habit is just a neural pathway rut.   Every time we use the neural pathway it becomes stronger. But every time we use a different neural pathway the old pathway gets weaker and the new neural pathway gets stronger. Breaking a habit is, to a large extent, creating a different neural pathway and making it strong. Making it stronger than the old neural pathway. While that may sound hard, it is not. It just takes repetition and practice. Like learning anything you have learned in the past – walking, eating, driving – they seem easy now but at one time there was no neural pathway for that activity and they seemed hard. Breaking a habit and creating a new habit is the same – just build on each event, a little at a time, and make the new habit strong!

You Can Even Age Better

There is also scientific evidence  that confirms that learning new things, growing our comfort zones, as we age improves mental sharpness. It is not good enough to do the things we normally engage in, even if they are mentally active things; you need to do new things to keep the brain working well. It is another case of “Use it or Loose it.” So Use It!

These are some of the great reasons to take to break free of your comfort zone – and there are many more. You NEED to allow yourself that bit of discomfort or anxiety.  It is actually life telling you to get excited because something new is happening. So take that  step outside your comfort zone!

What Is Your Soul?

Soul is such a difficult and, for some people, emotional word. You feel like you must have a soul but you don’t really know how to explain it. If you look it up in a dictionary you will find that there are many ways to define soul. It is the part of you that is immortal. It is the part of you that animates your body. It is a person’s total self, their being. Not only are there many definitions but each religion has its own interpretation of the soul.  For the purposes of this discussion, lets define the soul as the spiritual and moral part of you that is somehow separate from your mind. Your mind thinks and analyzes things and your soul feels and emotionally interprets things. By feeding your soul you let yourself truly experience the world around you and connect with it and the people in it.

What Does Your Soul Have To Do With It?

You are so bogged down with trying to achieve things and get things in your life. You get up in the morning and grab a cup of coffee, rush off to work, work through lunch, rush to the grocery store on the way home, grab your kids for there after school activities, throw something together for dinner (or get take out), rush through dinner and turn on the TV to “unwind”.

You fill your life with things and activities and ignore the most important things in your life, the small things that can bring you joy. These things give meaning to your life. They bring you a connection to life in the present. It is not just about the goal, though goals are important, it is about the path you take to get there. If you do not find joy in the process, then when you get to the end it has less meaning and feels flat.

Believe it or not all this rushing around doing things, does not truly satisfy your soul. By taking time to actually enjoy the things, people and places in our lives you not only enjoy where you are but the entire journey of getting there. It is important to truly enjoy some portion of your day, every day if you can, so you can appreciate where you are and how far you have come in you life.

How to Nourish Your Soul

So when you are looking for ways to nourish your soul you are looking for ways to gain joy in your life everyday. Taking time to enjoy the small things will make your days more joyful. There are so many ways to nourish your soul.

Try doing good things for other people

Helping others and sharing of yourself not only feels good but also make you feel abundant. Here are 5 ways you can do good things for others.

1. Donate things and money to a charity or organization. Donate books to your a library in a needy area. Bring old towels to the local ASPCA. It does not matter how much or how little, if you have extra then you have abundance.

2. Loan your money to others around the world. There are many sites on the internet that allow you to put money into an account and find people around the world that have projects that need funding. Maybe they need money to buy more goats or funds to buy more stock for their store. The money is paid back and then you can re-lend it. KIVA is one of these organizations. Even a small donation can make a big difference.

3. Leave people surprises. There is a little book called Happy Money that promotes an anonymous giving activity. Write an encouraging note on a stick-it. Take a little money, stick the stick-it to the money, roll it up and secure it with a rubber band. Then leave the money in some public place: A shelf in a grocery store, behind a book in the library. Then walk away and don’t look back. Imagine how you have brought a bit of joy to someone else’s life.

4. Donate your time. Even if you do not feel you have the money to contribute to a worthy cause, you can still donate your time. To that cause Walk dogs at the local humane society. Spend time with older people and listen to their stories. Sharing of your time will still make you feel more abundant.

5. Be nice to the people you meet in your life. Smile at people around you. You will be so surprised how many will respond to a simple smile. Pay for someone’s meal anonymously. Bring in flowers for someone you care about. Make someone else happy!

Try being good to yourself.

You are the person whose soul you are trying to nourish. What better way than being good to yourself. Here are some ways you can be good to yourself.

1. Practice one of many different breathing techniques to flood your body with oxygen and energy. You can live days without food or water but only minutes without oxygen – it is the most important to breather from your stomach. You can find many breathing exercises on the Internet. You must feel your stomach move up and down as you breathe.

2. Many people find it difficult to meditate. They find their mind racing and they end up thinking about stressful things. That’s OK – do it anyway! You can also find meditations with binaural or isochoric rhythms that help your mind enter the correct meditative states.

3. Soak in the tub or take a long shower. Make it a more memorable by using special soap and lotion afterwards.

Experience the world around you.

The world around you is truly a fascinating place, especially if you actually pay attention to it and experience it. Most of the time you rush around and don’t really pay attention to your environment. You just move through it. Spending time enjoying our where you are makes our whole day more enjoyable! Try these way to explore the world around you:

1. Take a walk outside. Usually you rush to your car and from your car to your place of work, and then back to your car and into a store. When was the last time you looked at the clouds in the sky or watched the sun rise or set. Take the time and see the beauty around you.

2. Take a drive to a place you haven’t been. Explore a bit. Drive down a new road just to see what is there. Go to a new town. Just explore you world.

3. Stop at a store you have never visited. Even if you are running errands around town, you can spend a few extra minutes exploring a place you have never been too. Maybe there is a new store in the local strip mall or a specialty grocery store you keep driving by. Go and explore it. You don’t have to buy anything, just look around and enjoy.

Take time to play

Playing is a highly underrated activity. Somehow once you reach adulthood, you stop allowing yourself to play. Playing is a natural release of energy and a way to explore yourself and interests outside of our work and responsibilities. Play allows us to grow in very different ways. Try these ways to add play to your day:

1. Explore a new hobby craft or art. There are always classes available for people to try new things. Stained glass, photography, ceramics, metal work – the possibilities are endless.

2. If you do not want to invest in a new craft or hobby try drawing, coloring or doodling.   These creative outlets do not cost much and can provide the same creative outlet.

3. Sing along with the radio. Take every opportunity to sing. While you drive. While you clean. In the shower. Singing always makes you feel good

4. Get up and dance! As with singing, dance and moving your body to music feels good to you and your body.

5. Try a new sport with your friends or family. Perhaps you know someone who can introduce you to racket ball or tennis. Go ice skating. Play Frisbee. Play with your kids. When was the last time you had a tea party! It does not have to cost a lot – just go out and play.

Your comfort zone is actually a psychological state. A state where you know and understand what is happening, It is the place, people and activities you are familiar with. Your actions in this state do not produce much anxiety or stress when you do them because they are familiar. You feel safe. That does not mean it is that the actions you take are good or bad, just that you know them well. Sometimes something different happens than expected and pushes you out of this comfortable state, but as long as things remain normal, you feel comfortable and safe and you stay in your Comfort Zone.

Your courage zone is another psychological state. It is a state where you are not sure of what is happening. You do not know all the people or the activities involved with what you are doing. Your outcomes are uncertain. Your actions produce some level of stress and anxiety. Again, this does not mean that the state is good or bad, just that it is unfamiliar.

Here’s the thing. If you want to have change in your life you ABSOLUTELY must move out of your comfort zone. Change, by definition, means to become different, to transform. So creating change in your life means doing, acting and experiencing different things. Change cannot happen without stepping out of your Comfort Zone and into your Courage Zone. Change is about some level of fear and uncertainty. Change is not about being fearless; it is about feeling the fear and having the courage to do it anyway.

The fantastic thing is that once you step out of your Comfort Zone repeatedly, it begins to grow and expand. The anxiety and stress you feel starts to diminish. What was once uncomfortable becomes more and more comfortable and, viola, your Comfort Zone expands to include the new people, places and activities.

So this website is about courage, the courage to do what you want to do and be what you want to be. It is about how your Comfort Zone is limiting you and why you need to step out if it.   It is about understanding the process of change and being able to do it. It is about tips, tools and tricks you can use to change even though you fear it. This website explores the process of progressing to a new you, expanding yourself and growing. Like many people, I am going through change in my life and I will be documenting what I already know about change, and what I learn and experience in the process. I hope you will join me in the journey!

Not only is it the vessel you live in but it is also the part of you that interfaces with the world. It is the part of you on display to the world and every person you encounter sees this outer reflection of you, of your spirit. It is also the primary vehicle we use to accomplish everything we do in the world. All the great things we have done, are doing now and are GOING TO DO will be done using this body!

Instead of treating this vessel that holds everything that is us with respect and kindness, most of us do not even like our bodies. We compare our bodies to someone else’s ideal of what is should look like and what it should be able to do. Our Comfort Zone in relation to our body is one that reflects and is created by that image that SOMEONE ELSE has created.

For some of us, this outer imposed ideal is sufficient and we are content with it. But for the vast majority of us, that image can never reflect who we are and that image can never be what we need to thrive and grow. It does not reflect what feels good to our spirit or soul, but what someone else has declared to be ideal. Remember that Comfort Zones can be good or bad and for most of us, the Comfort zone we have for our body, how we habitually feel about it, is really an uncomfortable and unhappy place.

In order to create change in this area of ourselves, we first have to create change in our Comfort Zone. We need to create step outside of the Comfort Zone created by others and expand, engulf it and recreate it with one that supports us and truly comforts us. Only from supportive Comfort Zone can we truly achieve the body we need regardless of weight, shape, or gender.

As a first step to truly comfortable Comfort Zone, try these things:

Care for your body

• Get a massage or give yourself a message
• New lotion, perfume or cologne with a scent that appeals to You
• Make sure you give you body adequate rest and nutrition – it is what is taking you to your goals
• Take a nap

Appreciate your body:

• Focus on those parts of you that you really like.
• Be your friends supporter not its enemy
• Make a list of the things that your body CAN do – don’t focus on what it cannot do.

Clothe Your Body – work with what you have.

• Wear comfortable clothing.
• Wear colors that enhance your skin tone.
• Wear clothes that make you feel good about your body.

Be Kind to Your Body

• Be critical of social and media images of what a body is supposed to look like
• Surround yourself with positive people
• Turn off the negative voices in your head – break the cycle of negative self talk.

Now some people feel that what happens in your life controls the thoughts you are having. Your boss yelled at you so you are frustrated. You got a raise so you are happy. You and your significant other had a fight so you are mad. You started a new project and you are excited. You have to give a presentation and you are nervous. Most people feel that those responses just happen and that is it. But have you ever noticed that some people seem to bounce back while other sort of wallow in both the good and the bad feelings.

Well those feelings do happen and they happen to everyone, that’s fine. The question is… Do these responses support what you need to do? Are te responses positive or negative. If not then your responses, your response Comfort Zone, work AGAINST you. Remember your reactions control your thoughts, your thoughts control your responses to others and your actions and your responses and actions controls the way people respond to you and the outcome of events.

There is the good news, you do not have to stay in that zone for very long.. Here is the really important thing: You have ultimate control of your reaction to what happens to you.

So if you want to create change in your life then you will need to step out of your overall Comfort Zone and into a place that causes you some level of stress and anxiety. If your response to stress and anxiety is a thought process that is limiting then your ability to take action inside your Courage Zone is limited. You will be more likely to fail at the change you are trying to achieve. You may have already had this happen to you — remember the same old thinking gives you the same old results!

What is a limiting mental state: your mind runs around in circles, excessive worry, you have lots of negative self talk, you just get sad, mad, frustrated, etc. All these states will limit your ability to move forward and make progress towards your goals.  You want a positive state to reach above the negative states and pull you up!

So what happens if you find yourself in a negative, limiting mental state? Change it! Interrupt it! Alter It! We will explore how to change you state in detail in later posts but try some of the following quick techniques to change your mental state:

Use your Senses – Choose sense experiences that uplift you and make you feel good

• Look at something you love (a photograph, your garden, colors)
• Listen or sing your favorite music, or natural sounds like the wind or waves
• Watch some uplifting/funny videos
• Light a scented candle or smell some relaxing potpourri or flowers
• Take a hot shower or bath
• Put on your most comfortable clothing
• Pet a dog or cat
• Eat or drink something (Chew some gum, drink some tea)

Use your Environment – Change your environment to truly experience the new location

• Go for a walk
• Take a drive in a beautiful place
• Go to your local coffee shop

Use your Family and Friends

• Call/text a friend
• Call a family member who is lonely
• Play with your kids
• Go out or play with your spouse/significant other
• Go out or play with your friends

Use your Body

• Stand up and move around
• Go for a walk
• Dance
• Stretch your neck

Use your Mind – change what you are focusing on

• Recall an empowering memory
• Imagine positive outcomes to what ever is worrying you
• Imagine your ultimate goal in all its glory
• Imagine a peaceful scene that relaxes you
• Meditate
• BE GRATEFUL