Continuing from our last topic about confidence, achievements & failure.
I think it’s a good moment in time to have an honest conversation about comfort zones.
We all know that growth happens outside of them – so why do we keep avoiding it?
And the answer is simple: your brain is wired for survival, not evolution.
It wants to avoid discomfort, pain, and anything unfamiliar because those things once signaled danger.
Technology is an absolute marvel.
Just look back back to the industrial revolution in the 18th & 19th centuries, and where we are today with artificial intelligence.
Our technology is moving faster than we are able to adapt too.
Our brain hasn’t caught up to modern life.
In today’s world, that “danger” isn’t a predator hiding in the bushes; it’s the fear of failure, rejection, or stepping into the unknown.
The comfort zone feels safe because it’s so predictable.
You know what to expect, there aren’t going to be any surprises.
It keeps you stuck in dead end routines, unproductive habits habits, and internal beliefs that don’t challenge you.
You might think you’re protecting yourself, but you’re just holding yourself back.
Staying comfortable means avoiding the opportunities and challenges that actually challenge you.
Those challenges change your life.
“When it feels scary to jump, that’s exactly when you jump. Otherwise you end up staying in the same place your whole life. And that I can’t do.”
- Abel Morales “A Most Violent Year” (2014),
I know this because I spent years stuck in my own life.
For most of my early life, I stayed where it felt “safe.” I surrounded myself with people who didn’t respect me, relationships that drained me, and routines that kept me small.
I convinced myself it was better to stick with what I knew than risk the unknown.
Even when it was painful.
Even when I knew deep down I wanted more, and this wasn’t the right path, I stayed.
And that’s the funny thing about the comfort zone. We know we shouldn’t be in it.
We know we should leave it.
But we do not.
Why? Because stepping out of my comfort zone meant confronting fear.
Fear of rejection.
Fear of failure.
Fear of not being enough.
But the funniest thing about the comfort zone is it isn’t even safe.
It’s a slow poison.
You don’t realize the damage at first.
It could even take years, slowly chipping away at you.
The longer you stay there, the more it eats away at your confidence, your growth, your purpose.
You stagnate, convincing yourself that “good enough” is acceptable while ignoring the voice inside that is so clearly telling you otherwise.
This is why people say rock bottom is a good thing.
Because when you hit rock bottom, the only way is up.
It wasn’t until everything fell apart that I was forced to confront this reality.
After hitting rock bottom, I realized that the life I wanted wasn’t going to come to me.
I had to go out and create it. (this is one of the most important realizations a man can come too – no one is coming to save you)
And to do that, I had to go beyond the comfort zone.
Far, far beyond it.
And the beautiful thing about it is, once you go far enough, a beautiful paradise like world is waiting for you.
I’m not saying you need to go out and take a giant leap of faith into the unknown.
It’s about leaning into the edges, testing the boundaries, and proving to yourself one small step at a time – that you’re capable of more.
Each moment of discomfort becomes a brick in the foundation of your growth.
View it as building a house, or chiseling down the wall to the paradise that awaits on the other side.
It’s all about understanding that fear is the price of evolution.
If we never stepped into fear, think what would have have happened to humanity?
Every time you lean into it, you’re not just growing – you’re rewriting the story you’ve been living in.
A bulls**t story where you’re stuck, held back by doubts and insecurities.
The comfort zone feels good because it’s predictable.
But growth?
Growth lives in the unpredictable.
It lives in the conversations you’re afraid to have.
The actions which set the pulse going.
The moments when you doubt yourself, but show up anyway.
Fear is not a stop, it’s a sign to grow.
To growth and freedom,
Shawn “Sheshn” Heshmatpour
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