The myth of leaving our comfort zone
It is clear that you need to venture
into new territories if you want to learn something.
However, are there limits to how
much discomfort we actually need to experience? And what about the idea of
having multiple comfort zones?
My personal observation is that even
highly entrepreneurial people, who in their professional activity are
constantly stepping out of their comfort zones, often prefer to remain within a
comfort zone in other areas of their life—for example, when learning a foreign
language.
This suggests that we need to
maintain some areas of life where we stay within a comfort zone, in order to
have the energy and stability to sustain discomfort in others.
Research supports this. Studies on stress and performance (e.g., Yerkes &
Dodson, 1908; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990) show that learning and growth do not
occur in states of overwhelming anxiety, but rather in conditions of moderate
challenge combined with psychological safety. Having stable and predictable
areas in life provides a resource that enables us to take calculated risks
elsewhere.
We can describe two zones outside
our comfort zone: the learning zone and the panic zone. This idea comes from
the “Learning Zone Model” (White, 2009), which builds on earlier educational
psychology. In this model, the “learning zone” is just beyond the comfort zone,
where challenges are manageable and skills can expand. The “panic zone,” by
contrast, is reached when challenges exceed our coping resources, leading to
stress, withdrawal, or failure rather than growth.
Pushing people out of their comfort
zone may actually be dangerous.
Outdoor education research has documented this risk. Studies (e.g., Becker,
2009; McKenzie, 2003) warn that pushing participants too far in adventure
learning can result in accidents or psychological harm, rather than resilience
or learning.
In communication training, there is
rarely a risk of physical harm—unless we recall experimental psychotherapy
methods such as Encounter Groups in the 1970s and 80s, where participants were
sometimes encouraged to become physical.
But imagine pushing someone with
stage fright onto a stage, unprepared and without support. There is a real
chance that he or she may leave the experience not more self-confident, but
more traumatized.
Indeed, research on public speaking anxiety (e.g., Bodie, 2010) shows that
exposure without preparation can reinforce fear responses rather than reduce
them. Effective interventions, such as gradual exposure or skills training,
succeed precisely because they keep the experience within the learning zone
instead of tipping into panic.
As in psychotherapy, the communication
coach must ensure that each step out of the comfort zone is taken with
sufficient preparation and inner resources. The goal is sustained personal
growth—not proving in front of the coach or peers how much you dare.
Literature
Becker, P. (2009). The spell of
the sensuous: Risk, responsibility and the learning process in outdoor
education. Ethics and Education, 4(1), 99–107.
https://doi.org/10.1080/17449640902781346
Bodie, G. D. (2010). A racing heart,
rattling knees, and ruminative thoughts: Defining, explaining, and treating
public speaking anxiety. Communication Education, 59(1), 70–105.
https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520903443849
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow:
The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper & Row.
McKenzie, M. (2003). Beyond “the
outward bound process”: Rethinking student learning. Journal of Experiential
Education, 26(1), 8–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/105382590302600104
White, A. (2009). From comfort zone
to performance management: Understanding development and performance. Journal
of Management Development, 28(5), 414–427.
https://doi.org/10.1108/02621710910955985
Yerkes, R. M., & Dodson, J. D. (1908). The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit‐formation. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 18(5), 459–482. https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.920180503
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Gerhard Ohrband is a psychologist from
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