Why do we keep tolerating things that drive us crazy? Because our comfort zone is the stress-free zone we are used to. It’s what is familiar. It’s also the place where we are the most dissatisfied with our life.
When we stay in our comfort zone, we are forcing ourselves to stay stagnant. We’re afraid to change for fear of what could happen. Our brains are trained to keep us safe so we stay in our comfort zone instead of facing the unknown. The devil we know is better than we don’t know, as the saying goes.
Staying in our comfort zone though, can cause problems as well. Here are 8 side effects of tolerating:
- Not reaching your goals.
If you continue tolerating, you will be less likely to follow through on reaching your goals. Your fear, procrastination, or any other excuse will keep you from taking action toward your goal. - Lack of growth.
Continuing to tolerate things you shouldn’t, will keep you from growing into more than you are right now. You’ll always be stuck, never going forward and never growing and changing. You won’t step out of your comfort zone to explore what you’re capable of doing or see what you can accomplish. - No or lost passion.
Continuing to tolerate makes it harder for you to discover your passion. Your passion can only be found outside your comfort zone. - Feeling left behind.
When you stay in your comfort zone you will feel like you are being left behind your colleagues and others you relate to. They might have been behind you at one time, in terms of life or career but because they stepped out of their comfort zone, they have passed you by. - Settling for less.
By continuing to tolerate, you push yourself to settle for less than you desire or deserve. You put aside your passion or things you love (and sometimes need). - Your self-confidence lags.
When you don’t move out of your comfort zone, you aren’t building the confidence you need to grow and take on new challenges. In addition, you may be tolerating situations or people that actually diminish your self-confidence. - Your health suffers.
When you tolerate things you shouldn’t, you probably aren’t taking good care of your self either. It can be from fear of going to the doctor, not wanting to change your routines, or even being afraid others will laugh at you at the gym. - You’ll be unprepared for changes.
When you stick to your comfort zone you become inflexible and set in your ways . Life can be difficult, throwing all kinds of things at you. Things can happen that will pull you out of your comfort zone even if you don’t want them to. Staying in your comfort zone makes it harder for you to be open to new possibilities.
The side effects of tolerating are also the reasons we need to stop tolerating. Staying in your zone may feel comfortable but it’s wrong to limit yourself to settling for mediocrity or even misery.
