7 Signs Your Comfort Zone Is In Your Way

Welcome to the Clarity Corner, where you'll discover how to unlock and express the most authentic version of you and realize that this is exactly what you were looking for the entire time. I'm your host and your coach, Megan Siemens. Now let's make some magic happen. Hello, my friend. We welcome back to the Clarity Corner. Today we're going to talk about comfort zones. One of my favorite topics ever. This is the primary topic I started my entire coaching business on. And as most of us do, it's grown and evolved, and it's taken a backstage and it's taken the spotlight many times, but it continues to be one of my favorite topics. And the reason is that no matter how much success we create, no matter how many of our goals we hit, no matter what we do in our life, our comfort zone will come with. It will try very hard to sneak its way back in. And. And what I have found in myself and in my clients is that just as we grow, our comfort zone grows and it evolves and it shows up in different ways. If we do not keep our awareness around it, we can become just as comfortable in success as we can in the mundane. And so I think our comfort zone just doesn't get enough spotlight as we grow. And so I believe that is why so many humans hit burnout. I think it's just a version of your comfort zone coming in and. And stories operating in autopilot in the background that lead you ultimately to burning out. I always say there's two types of burnouts. There's I'm burnt out on my life because it doesn't feel like the life I want to be living. So you're feeling like you've been settling. You're feeling like you're made for more, but you're not going after it. And we have lots of comfort zones that come into play on that side of the spectrum around, you know, fear of putting yourself out there, fear of failing, fear of success, fear of imposter syndrome. So many things. And then on the other side of the burnout spectrum, we have, I maybe am doing everything that I love doing, and I'm exhausted, and I feel like I have no more energy left to give. And I think that our comfort zone still leads this level of burnout, because often what I see in place here is, is I'm working to avoid something else, which is a form of a comfort zone, or I'm operating still from a story that's not mine. I'm doing things the way other people said they should, and it's working But I'm really freaking tired. And so I believe our comfort zone just shows up in sneaky ways no matter what chapter we're living. I mean, ultimately what our comfort zone is is it's fear operating on autopilot. And it kind of tries to create systems that are helpful for us. That is our comfort zone. That is our fear's job, is to keep us protected, to keep us safe. And especially if we're building success while our nervous system feel, still feels incredibly rattled along the way, or if we break a comfort zone in a way that didn't actually feel incredibly good for our comfort, it's gonna sneak its way back in. And so today I wanna talk about seven signs that your comfort zone is in the works. Seven signs that your comfort zone has been sneaking its way into your life that maybe are very obvious to you, but maybe have been playing in the background. And this will be that realization of, oh, shoot, it did sneak its way back in. Okay, I see you. And then we can move forward from there. And before we get into our seven signs, I also wanna let. We are hosting the Hidden Comfort Zone series. It is my favorite free training. It is three days of gloriously bringing awareness to our hidden comfort zones that are playing in the background. It's completely revamped. So if you've done this training before, it is going to be new content, some new exercises, and as I was just saying, our comfort zone grows, our comfort zone evolves, our comfort zone changes. And I think no matter how many times you go through this training, it just brings up a valuable gem every single time. I'm so excited to go through it as well. It has already been teaching me the lessons. Okay, let us get into the seven signs that your comfort zone is in the works. Sneaking its way back in. Number one, one of my old time favorites. We're just, we're gonna be a little playful and light with the comfort zone. Right? And actually, before I tell you, number one, let me just disclaim that we are releasing any shame or judgment over ourselves that our comfort zone is present. Because all that does is brings us into a space spiral. And it makes our comfort zone want to stay. When we go into shame or judgment of. Oh my gosh, I thought I was done with this. Why is my comfort zone still here? Or judging yourself for having a story that only makes your comfort zone want to stay longer? Because what is your comfort zone's job? It is to keep you safe. And so if you're in shame and judgment, your internal system is going alert Alert, danger. We don't want to move forward. This doesn't feel good. And so we're just gonna release all of that. We're gonna have fun with this, we're gonna bring awareness to it and then we're gonna move forward in the hidden comfort zone, training together. Right? Okay. Number one, my all time favorite. You're numbing out with Netflix wine or nowadays favorite scrolling scrolling, scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Now let me be very clear with this one. There is innately nothing wrong with watching Netflix. I love a good Netflix binge. I love a good series. I mean, did anyone else just sit down and watch all of Bridgerton with me? Is anyone else eagerly awaiting the next House of the Dragon episode? There is nothing innately wrong with this. There is nothing innately wrong with scrolling. It is the intention behind it that we're paying attention to. And it is when we go into these activities to numb us out. And we can do this in so many ways. And essentially what numbing out is, is avoiding. Avoiding. Whether it's being alone with yourself and your thoughts or whatever else maybe you are actively avoiding a project. I last year when I just before I did the 21 days of hot Yoga challenge with myself, I noticed that my body was calling for movement. Calling. I said it out loud so many times. I need to move my body. It's what my body wants right now. I told my I was working with a health coach at the time. It's like, I just need to move my body. I just need to move my body. I sounded like a broken record saying this. And every single evening I had this gap of time and what would I do? I would be like, oh, I should go move my body. But instead I would sit on the couch, I would open my phone and I would get stuck in a scroll hole for an hour or more sometimes and it didn't feel good. It didn't have intention behind it. And then when I closed my phone, it was time to make dinner and then I went to bed. And it is that knowing that this doesn't feel good and this is taking me away from what I'm actually being called towards and this is becoming a repetitive pattern. And so I send my past self so much love and compassion for that chapter that she was going through and there's so much I could unpack in there. And I send you so much love and compassion if you are finding that you're in a pattern of numbing out. And I just invite you to notice that this week and acknowledge if you find yourself going to Your numbing pattern, just meeting yourself where you're at, saying, okay, I see you. I see this is what you're doing. And just take a moment to just send yourself love. And you don't even need to actively change it right then and there. I think this is one of the things our comfort zones tricks us into doing. It's like all or nothing. I just gotta let it go and I gotta make it stop now. And that's just not how all of us as human beings operate. And so what if this week the only thing you did was meet yourself with love and compassion? Okay, number two, second sign that your comfort zone is in the works. If you are finding that you are telling the same story over and over and over and over and over again. If you find that there is this one story that you just try to work into every single conversation. And when I say story, this could be a complaint. This could be something you're feeling like you're really processing. This could be a scenario that you just keep repeating, and you find yourself just repeating it over and over again. And maybe you haven't noticed that you've been doing this, but maybe this is something to pay attention to for. For yourself over the next couple of weeks and get curious. Bring that lens of curiosity out. You catch yourself. I always, in all our comfort zone trainings and in comfort zone mastery, I always talk about the comfort zone net. Like, if you imagine just like a little butterfly catcher, just notice that, like, pretend you have your little butterfly catcher net this week, and notice if there's this one thing that you keep saying over and over, and it's almost like you'll catch yourself and you'll go, really? Am I telling this again? Are we telling this again? And just catch it in your little net this week. But if you find that you are telling the same story over and over and over and over, it is a call that you haven't found the different lens yet. And if you're in that pattern of repetition, it is potentially a sign that your comfort zone is leading that story. There is a reason that that story is staying in place. There is a reason that you are the character that you are in that story that you're telling. And so, again, we're just noticing we're bringing into awareness. We're getting our butterfly catcher net and we're paying attention to. Is there something that I am just, like, tired of telling? Is there a story that I'm ready to actually trade out for something new? All right, number three, third sign that your comfort zone is cynically in the works is if you are feeling exhausted and stuck in the same cycle, that feels very familiar. And I just have to say that this very much just feels, feels like a collective theme in general right now. And I think there could be so many things going on here, but the way that we know if our comfort zone is in the way here is that cycle piece where you feel like you've repeated the same thing but in a different way many times. So you feel like even though you stepped into something new, somehow you're right back where you were in the previous scenario. And it feels, feels just exhausting. You're like, fed up with it. I think this is like a huge overarching theme in general that shows us our comfort zones hanging around is if we're like, I am just fed up with this. If you have that feeling when you finally catch it. And so notice if there's any cycles that you feel like this feels familiar and maybe it's like a little bit confusing at first when you catch it, like, what. What is this doing here? We already moved past this. We already, we already did this. Why are we back here again? And so an example of this is if you're, let's say that you left a job, whether it was recently or maybe even a couple of years ago, but now you're in a new position that felt like your total dream position. You were so excited for it, you were so thrilled, and now you feel like you're doing more of the same. That happened in that last job. That is a sign that there was a story operating in the undercurrent that wasn't shifted. And so you just scenario swapped. You just said, if I, if I move, then everything's going to change. And that can be true to an extent, especially if we're in like a toxic environment or something like that is going on. But sometimes an environment shift can do a lot for us. And what is the single constant in every chapter of your life? It is you. And so you are coming with you in every chapter. And so if your cycles are feeling very familiar, this could be that call for you to look and say what story is operating underneath that's causing this cycle to repeat. All right, that brings us to number four. Our fourth sign that your comfort zone is here in the works is that you keep starting and stopping things. Start, stop, start, stop. That just reminded me, I'm so sorry, but if there's any office fans that just reminded me of snip, snap, snip snap. I'm so sorry, I'm not going to be able to say that anymore without thinking about that. Okay, moving on. You're starting and stopping. So you're starting a project. You're going in full force, you're so excited, you're, like thrilled to tell everyone, and then you stop. And I would say that this one pairs pairs nicely with a side of another comfort zone sign, because I think there's an important distinction here of sometimes it actually is important to stop mid sentence, especially for my manifesting generators that are listening in or people that do have energy that feels like it wants a pivot, or if we even just think about the last point that we shared. Getting exhausted and stuck in a cycle. Your comfort zone can be the thing keeping you in the cycle because it says we see things through and that is the story it's telling you. And so I would say with this start, stop. One, pay attention to what happens after you stop. Am I stopping because it's in my highest intention, or am I stopping because I'm uncomfortable of what is going to happen next? Am I making the sales page, writing the emails, planning the most epic launch ever and then stopping because there's a small part inside of me that says, if I put this out there, what if no one joins? Or if I put this out there, what if so many people join and I don't know how to hold it? And so this one is one to get honest with yourself on. If you find that you're in again, it's a repetitive pattern that we're looking for. You're starting something and then you're stopping it, and then you're. And you're doing that over and over and over again from a space that feels like, am I actually doing this for my highest self? Am I actually doing this for the intention that I want to lead my life with? All right, number five. Fifth sign that your comfort zone is in the works is that you back out of something because it didn't go as planned. So this one is some expectations coming into play and you plan something amazing outside of your comfort zone. Let's say you start to plan an amazing weekend getaway and you're so excited because it's your first solo weekend getaway and you're planning it and it feels so good and at the same time, so uncomfortable because you've never done a solo getaway before. There's a lot of discomfort in it. Our. Our comfort zone always comes with that excitement but discomfort feeling, right? And so you're planning, planning, planning. You're so excited to make this happen. And. And then all of the sudden, Your great cousin 4 times removed posts something about a roadblock on a potential exit that you might have to take on the way to your incredible, extravagant weekend getaway. This is the most intricate example I could have created. And all of a sudden you go, oh, I can't go. I can't go, because I might have to take that exit. And. And. And all of the other roads might be closed around it. And so I. I just can't go anymore. As a sign that your comfort zone's coming into play, because you can't broaden that perspective to come up with different solutions that could support that what if scenario. All right, number six, you're trying to solve problems that aren't yours to solve. Ooh, this is a very sneaky one that comes in and shout out to our head center in human design, especially if you have an open head center. But even if you have a defined head center, and if you have no idea what that means, that's okay. We're still tracking. We're still. We're still flowing in this together. But this is a center in our human design that could really lead us into this scenario right here. So you're trying to solve problems that aren't actually yours to solve. This is a sign that you are basically trying to put your attention on anything else other than the thing that your soul, your heart, your spirit, whatever you connect with, your highest self knows that you want and need to do, but instead, you're going to try and solve something else. To as to still appear helpful or on a deeper level, as to still appear worthy, as to still appear like you're filling your time, but really it's taking you away from the thing that you actually know it's time to move into. And so notice if you are trying to find problems to solve, if you're trying to place your control somewhere else. And then our seventh and final sign that our comfort zone is in the works. And then I want to share some considerations for you as we move through this list. Your seventh and final sign that your comfort zone is in the works is if you're retelling yourself the story. I should just be happy, or I should just be grateful. Look at all the things I have in my life. I should just be happy with it. Like, why do I even need more? I should just be happy. I should just be grateful with. With what I have here in front of me. This is a huge, glaring sign that your comfort zone is here. It's also a very old and worn out piece of societal conditioning that I think we are actively reframing here in this space. You here right now are doing a part and actively reworking that story. But if you find yourself repeating the story, I should just be happy. I should just be grateful. That's a huge sign that you are. You deep inside feel like you're settling. You feel that call to have more, do more, be more, create more, impact more, be more purposeful in your life. But comfort comes in and says, you know what? I should just be happy and grateful here. You know, other people have it worse than me. I shouldn't complain. But actually, you're not complaining. It's not a complaint to choose to create more. You can do that in a way that is grounded and rooted and intentional and aligned with your values. And that story. I should just be happy. Is your comfort zone coming in and saying, you know, we can just stay here and we don't have to rock the boat. We don't have to cause anyone to question us. We don't have to be seen to. Your comfort zone's sneaky way of saying, you know what? This can. This can be fine. Thine is one of comfort zone's favorite masks to wear. So I invite you, as I said at the beginning, to just meet yourself with love and compassion in these and just hold the awareness. Awareness is a tool that never will get old. It is a tool that will always support our growth. And so to hold the awareness can have so much power, so much power. Like, more power than we know. And I know I'll, like, raise my hand first and say, like, I can roll my eyes at the idea of, like, I'm. I'm good on, like, being aware with it. And I'm humbled every time when I realize that awareness is actually one of the most powerful tools that we do have. And so hold your awareness and invite solutions if they're ready to land. Hold your compassion for yourself. And I also just want to note quickly as we are closing that there's nuance in all of these. There is an and to all of these. And we are very multi dimensional, complex human beings. And while I think these are huge signs that our comfort zone is in the works in very sneaky, undercover ways, I also think that there's other things that could be driving these stories. And so I invite you to get curious with your stories in your own way. And if you are feeling connected to one of these and then you're like, oh, I actually don't know that that's my comfort zone. But I feel like it's this great. We come back to awareness and you have now unlocked a powerful key to unlocking your next level of success. Greatness. All that good cheesy stuff that we love around here. Okay, my friend, if you did resonate with this episode, do come join us in the Hidden Comfort Zones training. I will link the details of that in the show notes. It is not only packed with lessons and more understanding of your comfort zone, but each day also comes with a piece of homework for you to do. So you will actually actively be taking action to get outside of your comfort zone, to shake things up and to truly meet and step into the vision that you have been holding. Because it is time, my friend. The world needs you. I know this for a 100% certain fact. So I'm sending you so much love and magic. Cannot wait to see you in the free training. Until next time. Bye for now friend. Keep comfort zone breaking. Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you're ready to get unstuck and on with a joyful life, you're ready to be magnetically you in life, relationships, business and everything in between. I invite you to apply for coaching together. It all starts with a clarity call. If you thought this was magic, get ready to blow your mind through your own possibilities. Apply for coaching@megansemans.com coaching.