Living In The Growth Zone

Growth can be scary.  It’s doing things you’ve never done before to push the boundaries of your comfort zone.  However, the more you do it, the more comfortable you’ll become.  Here is how you can make a few minor mindset shifts to help you start living in the growth zone in life.

Self Doubt

Growth can trigger a bunch of feelings and emotions.  Sometimes you may feel like you’re not ready, enough, capable, worthy, smart, etc.  Self doubt starts to creep in and you feel flooded with the overwhelming emotions of maybe you can’t actually achieve your goal.  You begin to wonder if you’re on the right track, if this is even possible, etc.  You second guess yourself and that’s when you decide to stop taking action towards your goal because it becomes too uncomfortable.  You move into the escape zone and avoid working towards your goal.  This looks like procrastination techniques or simply doing anything else rather than the tasks related to your goal.  Your job is to recognize when this is happening and get yourself back into the growth zone.

Exciting

There is one simple mindset shift you can use to get yourself back into action again.  This is to view growth as exciting instead of scary.  The butterflies you feel in your stomach are just excitement for what’s to come, not fear.  You know you’re challenging that line between your comfort zone and the growth zone.  The real secret is that when you begin doing things outside of your comfort zone it feels uncomfortable and scary.  But, when you keep at it, soon you become good at it and it becomes a part of your comfort zone.  You’ve shifted that line between what was once uncomfortable to what is now in your comfort zone.  That’s what you have to keep doing in order to achieve your goals.  Get excited and challenge yourself to take those small, tiny action steps to grow and that will inevitably widen your comfort zone.

Growth Path

Growing should be exciting because you’re learning and taking your life to the next level.  Anything becomes possible for you.  This isn’t about failure or doing things perfectly.  It’s growth.  It’s learning and making adjustments along to the way to get you to where you want to be.  Achieving your goals is not a straight line.  It’s often messy and usually looks nothing like what you thought it would to get you there.  The path to successfully achieving your goals is through growth.  It’s challenging yourself to become better than you were yesterday.

Your Focus

Now, growth is not easy.  But, you can make it a little easier on yourself mentally because a lot of this is a mental game.  You can typically keep taking action towards your goal, even when it gets difficult, if you have the right mindset.  The next mindset shift you can make is where you have your attention.  If you’re focused on how uncomfortable and difficult something is, then you’ll want to give up.  However, if you shift your focus to how you’ll feel when you’re done, you’ll be empowered to keep going.  It becomes a game to keep taking action to achieve your goals.  While you’re in taking action, it can feel challenging and unattainable but that quickly shifts to a feeling of excitement and pride of wow you did that!  Think about how proud you’ll be for pushing through a challenging time, embracing the discomfort, and knowing that one day it will become a part of your comfort zone if you just keep going.  Your focus, whether that’s on how hard this is or how amazing you’ll feel when you’re done, will change the game for you.

Growth

Start challenging yourself to learn, grow, and feel good knowing that you’re doing something good for yourself.  Growth is exactly that.  It’s good for you, even though you may not believe that in the tough moments.  But, you’re on your way to achieving success and the life you want to live.  Growth is going to require something of you that you’ve never had to do before.  You may think you’re not equipped, but you have everything you need within you to succeed.  Dig deep and keep going.  Achieving your goals is waiting on the other side of growth.

The growth zone is where you should be spending most of your time.  Work to do more of what you know is inherently good for you to grow, even if it doesn’t feel the greatest in that moment.  It’s pushing through the discomfort knowing that amazing things are waiting on the other side.  It’s taking action towards your goals, even when you don’t feel like it.  It’s being willing to do the hard work necessary to live the life you’ve always imagined.  Stop the escape tactics that are holding you back and start doing things that encourage growth.  Look at growth through the lens of excitement and think about how you’ll feel when you’ve completed the hard work to achieve your goals.  This is what will allow you to keep living in the growth zone where anything is possible for you to achieve.

Take Action Challenge

The Growth Zone Activation Challenge

This week, your goal is simple, to stay in the growth zone, even when it feels uncomfortable.

Step 1: Identify Your Growth Edge

Ask yourself, what is one thing you've been avoiding because it feels uncomfortable, scary, or difficult?

Write it down.

That’s your area for growth.

Step 2: Reframe the Feeling

The next time resistance or nerves show up, pause and say to yourself, this isn’t fear, this is growth.

Let this become your new mantra.

Your body doesn’t always know the difference between fear and excitement.

Teach yourself about growth.

Step 3: Take One Daily Growth Action

Each day, take one small action that keeps you in the growth zone.

Examples:

• Start before you feel ready
• Work on your goal for 15–30 minutes
• Do an uncomfortable task first
• Say yes to something that stretches you

This doesn’t need to be big, just be consistent with it.

Step 4: Shift Your Focus

When something feels challenging, ask yourself how will you feel when this is done?

Let that feeling of pride, confidence, and progress pull you forward and allow you to keep taking action.

The truth is, growth feels uncomfortable until it becomes your new normal.

When you stay in it long enough, what once felt scary becomes a part of who you are and that is growth.