You can encourage yourself to do more vulnerable things by finding a friend who embraces discomfort.
Maybe it’s a networking thing, or karaoke, or surf lessons. Whatever the activity, having a friend by your side makes an uncomfortable thing a little less anxiety-inducing so you can get the most out of it.
"What makes you vulnerable makes you beautiful." ~Brene Brown Vulnerability has never been my strong suit. It's no wonder. In order to be vulnerable, you have to be okay with all of you. That's the thing about vulnerability that no one tells you about.
You've seen inspirational quotes that encourage you to get out and do something strange-something you wouldn't normally do-but getting out of your routine just takes so much work. There's actually a lot of science that explains why it's so hard to break out of your comfort zone, and why it's good for you when you do it.
Your comfort zone is a behavioral space where your activities and behaviors fit a routine and pattern that minimizes stress and risk. That provides a state of mental security.
A state of relative comfort created a steady level of performance. In order to maximize performance, a state of relative anxiety is needed—a space where our stress levels are slightly higher than normal. This space is called "Optimal Anxiety," and it's just outside our comfort zone.
Too much anxiety and we're too stressed to be productive, and our performance drops off sharply.
Your comfort zone is neither a good or bad thing. It's a natural state that most people trend towards.
Leaving it means increased risk and anxiety, which can have positive and negative results.
Don't demonize your comfort zone as something holding you back. We all need that head-space where we're least anxious and stressed so we can process the benefits we get when we leave it.
Why is falling in love scary? Why do people often shut down in the face of intimacy? Because of an intense fear of vulnerability. Brené Brown of the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work, explains this phenomenon: "Vacillating between I am here and I love you...