Growth and comfort can’t ride the same horse. The comfort zone is a ‘kryptonite’ to your career progression

The comfort zone is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome in the career ladder. People that find themselves in this zone feel safe and familiar in their current roles or position. There’s little to no motivation to move to the next level.

You need to be ambitious and even daring to move up the career ladder. This involves learning new skills, taking on new responsibilities, displaying leadership qualities, and being vocal about your aspirations. Achieving all this requires a good level of ambition and motivation, traits that are often absent in people comfortable in their roles.

One of the most dangerous things about the comfort zone is that the skills and experiences that have created a ‘safe bubble’ for you at your current role may become obsolete. And since you’ve been avoiding improving yourself personally and professionally, you risk becoming irrelevant and losing competitive advantage in your workplace and industry at large.

Here are common telltale signs of being stuck in the comfort zone:

• Work becomes too easy for you that sometimes it feels like you are a zombie just going through the motions.
• You feel like you’ll always be in the same position.
• You feel like you should be making efforts to move to the next level but don’t want to jeopardize your current position.
• You are unhappy with your current position but are afraid of the change that comes with advancing your career.

If you can relate with any of this, you are stuck in the comfort zone and you need a change of mindset and conscious effort to escape the cage you created for yourself for the comfort zone is a cage that effectively traps you and prevents progression of any sort.

Escaping The Comfort Zone

“Akin to a caged bird that has been set free, you’ll feel liberated and more fulfilled when you escape your comfort zone”

To escape the comfort zone, you have to overcome fear – the fear of failure and the fear of change. The fear of failure makes you think that it’s better to remain in the same position than try to advance and fail. It convinces you that mediocrity is better than risking the uncertainty of success.

The first step to getting out of the comfort zone is to acknowledge you are stuck there. Then, try to connect with your career goals and seek out challenges you’ve been avoiding. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate at first. You could start by taking on more complex projects at work, attending training workshops, going to a networking event, or volunteering for more responsibilities at work.

Continue learning. Always find ways to educate yourself and improve your skills and capabilities. At the same, be willing to share your knowledge and expertise with your colleagues at every level.

You won’t get out of the comfort zone overnight but by acknowledging the problem and taking action to free yourself

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

“Never get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.” —Dolly Parton.

The desire for a successful career can make one prioritize work over everything else. You put in insanely long hours at work and forget about your well-being. And when you neglect your personal life, your emotional, physical, and mental health suffer. Your career will also eventually suffer due to decreased productivity, poor health, and feeling of unfulfillment.

This is why it’s important you maintain a balance between your personal and professional life. In truth, achieving this balance isn’t easy and may even seem elusive to some people. From working longer hours to having increased responsibilities at work and home, and having children, it may seem like there’s no way to balance everything.

Achieving The Elusive Work-Life Balance

“Balance is not better time management, but better boundary management.” —Betsy Jacobson.

The key to achieving work-life balance is to accept that there is no perfect work-life balance and what works for one individual may not work for another person. Also, work-life balance isn’t a fixed concept set in stone, it’s a cycle that involves constantly assessing your goals and priorities. Most importantly, being kind to yourself matters.

Prioritize your health as doing this will make you a better employee and individual. Know when to seek help if you are dealing with any physical or mental issues and find a way to fit in treatment/recuperation in your schedule.

Know when to cut ties with the outside world. Unplugging could be as simple as not checking work mails on your way to work or not doing anything work-related after working hours. Sometimes, you may need a vacation to completely unplug yourself from work and recharge mentally and physically. As long as you plan your vacation properly, you can get some well-deserved rest without burdening your colleagues or coming back to meet a huge workload.

Lack of Mentorship

“A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you.” — Bob Proctor

The road to the top of the career ladder is long but you can get there faster with the help of a mentor. Think of a mentor as a ‘catalyst’, one that brings you closer to your goals faster than you can on your own.

A mentor has been or is already where you want to be. They have a wealth of experience, expertise, and knowledge you can tap from. And the most important quality of a mentor is the enthusiasm to share their knowledge and guide you closer to your goals.

Finding A Career Mentor

You can start your search for a mentor at your organization. Approach senior executives and see if there’s anyone willing to mentor you. While it may seem daunting to ask them for mentorship, the worst thing that could happen is that they say no. But the potential benefit outweighs the risk of rejection and even if they don’t take you, they’ll see you as someone serious about their career development.

Don’t focus only on the big fish in the mind. Consider other people more experienced than you at your organization or in higher positions and approach them.

If you can’t find someone at your organization, consider going online. There are a number of websites that offer mentorship and LinkedIn is a great platform where you can find experienced professionals willing to guide you on your journey to career success and excellence.