Getting out of my comfort zone is part of the reason for shifting careers to an executive & personal coach – there are new experiences, ups & downs, sharp learning curves and a fair dose of challenges.

Understanding how to navigate away from comfort, through fear, to learning & growth is essential for me both personally and in supporting my clients.

‘Leaving your comfort zone’ is a concept embedded in our collective psyche – but what does this really mean?

In 1907, behavioural psychologists Yerkes & Dodson studied the link between anxiety and performance, highlighting that our nervous systems have a ‘Goldilocks zone’ of arousal – too little and you remain in a comfort zone, where boredom sets in; but too much and you enter a fear zone, which also stalls progress.

But it was management thinker Judith Bardwick who coined the term in 1991 – “the comfort zone is a behavioural state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviours to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.”

So how do you leave your comfort zone?

The Positive Psychology model (see comments) describes four zones: comfort, fear, learning & growth

  • Leaving your comfort zone requires courage in the face of fear, but getting uncomfortable and being more vulnerable is often a prerequisite for deep learning
  • If you stay curious and stay determined, you move from fear to learning, where you gain new skills and deal with challenges more resourcefully
  • After consolidating this learning, you experience growth, where you find more purpose and live more in line with your values and goals


Reflecting on the model personally and as a coach, I have learned that

  • What tends to hold people back is their mindset, rather than lack of opportunity or knowledge – you need of embrace a growth mindset and learn by experience
  • You can expand your zones by being intentional about taking on new challenges – your zones aren’t rigid, you can flex them with practice
  • It’s ok to choose the zone you want to operate in – different zones will align to different priorities and stages in your life


Are you stuck? Holding yourself back? Seeking a new challenge?

I partner with my clients to help them move out of their comfort zone by

  • Challenging limiting beliefs and imposter feelings
  • Building confidence and taking action aligned to goals
  • Building on strengths and loves
  • Developing new ways of thinking and a growth mindset
  • Giving agency by exploring opportunities and choices
  • Providing accountability to keep on track

If you want to explore how you plot a course to your growth zone, I’d love to support you in your journey. I have a couple of places open for the second half of the year, so get in touch.

What have you done recently to push beyond your comfort zone?