Archives for March 2018

I’ve heard the comfort zone referred to as “the place where dreams go to die”.  That’s because we use our comfort zone to inoculate against change: after all, what are dreams if not a recognition that things could be different … and better?

We reinforce our comfort zone by fine-tuning our ability to detect things that are worse than we are.  We immediately notice people who speak differently from us … in order to look down on them.  And we notice the ways in which other people drive … but when did you last notice someone driving better than you, and say to yourself, “I need to learn to drive like that!”

Comfort zones reassure us that we’re fine as we are; no change necessary!

Most of us operate on the assumption, “This is better … therefore, I like it!”  In fact, the opposite is usually the case.  When we are contemplating change, we are deeply biased towards things that fall within our comfort zone.  We usually like what feels reasonably comfortable, and then justify it by rushing to assure other people (and ourselves) that, ‘It’s better!”  We need to be deeply suspicious of things that we like.  Not because they may not be good – or even better – but because it’s likely that they won’t demand fundamental change of us.  It’s a powerful protocol against kidding ourselves.