Marcus Taylor silenced the crowd during his Ted Talk on measuring our comfort zone saying, “If you had never done anything that has made you nervous, where would you be right now?” He makes the audience think about what scares us in life. For example, the fear of failing in school, getting rejected by our peers, or growing up. Our comfort zone is “a form of mental conditioning we all experience creating artificial mental boundaries which determine what we believe we can or cannot do”. We are wired to find comfort, either in the professional, general, or pleasurable aspects of our lives. However, stepping outside our comfort zone allows us to be comfortable with the things that absolutely terrify us. “It’s only when we embrace these challenges that make us nervous, and get us outside of our comfort zone, we are able to grow and experience bigger things.”
Taylor put together an algorithm to measure each person’s comfort zone. Since he created this, “over 24,000 people have measured their comfort zone. The algorithm has also been approved as scientifically valid by registered psychologists at Deakin University.” Some interesting insights Taylor discovered in his algorithm results were: 1. Males have larger comfort zones than females 2. Our comfort zone changes as we get older, depending on how much we challenge ourselves during our lifetime 3. There is a positive correlation in how much we get out of our comfort zone and how much money we make.
“If we don’t challenge the boundaries of our comfort zone we are surrendering to all the amazing opportunities and possibilities that exist outside of it.” The beliefs we have predetermined in what we can or cannot do does not have to limit us. “If you want something you don’t already have, you have to do something you haven’t already done.” There are many aspects in our daily lives we are afraid to accomplish. We should challenge ourselves, take risks, try new things, and embrace new obstacles. In the end, “there are great things waiting for us outside our comfort zone.”