Creating a Bigger Comfort Zone

Hotel gym pump session this weekend with this guy at the Killington Grand Hotel Resort when the power went out in a massive ice storm and we had nothing to do, especially ski, except a 1 hour station rotation workout.

In my opinion, there’s a pretty grey line between “staying in your lane” and “getting outside of your comfort zone”.

Take Ben and I, for example.

I’m the cook. He’s the business guy.

I’m the kitchen cleaner-upper after dinner, he’s the Tickle Monster on the trampoline guy.

I’m the house handy-person. He’s the family travel agent.

I’m the technology figure-outer. He’s the coach/public speaker.

I’m the gardener. He’s the “move piles of dirt and rocks from one place to another in the yard” guy.

We can each do the other’s “things”, but everything just works smoother when we stay our lane.

But, sometimes I wonder, “If Ben dies before me, I should have some competency with knowing what’s actually the amount of money we can comfortably spend each month and how to book flights on the actual dates that we want to travel…not 3 weeks earlier.

And, at what point do I teach Ben how to fix a broken dishwasher or change the fridge filter?

I think the point is to avoid the time in your life where you get too comfortable leaning on others to do the things you’re not great with just because you’re not the _________ guy.

Because it’s an across the board sort of thing when you start using the “that’s just not my thing” excuse as a crutch to not bother getting better at something: navigating AI, fixing iPhone glitches, grilling, changing your windshield wipers, understanding your investment portfolio (I, literally, have no idea what the hell that even means), etc.

This, obviously, applies to life in the gym, also. I’ve always leaned on my crutch of being the “bodyweight movement” girl and claimed, “I’m not the strong girl.” But, this perspective is exactly what keeps me from even trying sometimes. Because when I tell myself the story that I’m one thing and not the other, then it subconsciously gives me the freedom to not bother trying. Why not just stay in my bodyweight lane when I’m not the strong one, anyways?

It sounds so ridiculous when I write it out like that, right? But, I think that’s what a lot of us are doing when a run comes up and we just lean into, “I’m not a runner, so I’ll just bike.”

I’m just here reminding myself that getting out of my comfort zone, in all areas of my life, may be harder and bumpier than staying in my lane…but, is worth the reward of potentially creating a bigger comfort zone.