“When you step outside of your comfort zone, what was unknown and scary becomes your new normal.”
–Robin Sharma
Leaving our comfort zone is uncomfortable…
Ummm… yes!
In theory, I suspect most of us know it’s better to leave our comfort zone every now and then. In practice, it can be quite daunting to actually do this. But personal growth is what we inevitably experience when and if we do to do Finding the courage to leave our comfort zone is usually worth it.
When I was traveling in Ireland recently, I had to rent a car because the places I visited were not accessible by public transportation. And taking a taxi would have been quite expensive.
Renting a car is easy; Not so much driving on the opposite side of the road…at least, not at first.
Back home in Canada, of course, we drive on the right side of the road. And the steering wheel is on the left. In Ireland, the steering wheel is on the right…and they drive on the left side of the road. I don’t know about your experience (if any) but driving on the other side of the road took some time for me and my brain to get used to.
Luckily, someone told me (before driving to Ireland) a helpful little mantra, which will help me remember. which I have to be on the side of the road:
“Left to live; right to die.”
Of course, it’s a bit over the top. But boy was it helpful to help me stay on the right side of the road! So there I was, driving the streets of Dublin and then other parts of Ireland (on increasingly narrow streets) chanting this unpleasant mantra to myself. To be honest, I skipped the ‘right to die’ part pretty quickly (too sick) and instead just said ‘left to live’ out loud to myself… especially when I got into the first car (which was, thankfully, an automatic).
Interestingly, it only took a few days before driving on the left side of the road became my new normal. And the more I drove, the more my confidence improved—but not just my confidence in myself driving. That’s cool stuff…and the point of this blog.
Doing something scary outside of our comfort zone shows us that we can probably do one a lot Things outside of our comfort zone!
Yes, doing something new is uncomfortable at first. But then it became known. And I discovered that more often I go outside my comfort zone, whenever it’s easy to do. I suspect the opposite is also true: the more we stay stuck within our familiar zones, the harder it is to muster up the courage to venture outside.
But I suspect that the more we drive outside our comfort zones, the more we grow as people.
Moving things around a bit is, apparently, good for our health too. Change is good for our brains because it forces the creation of new neural pathways, a process driven by neuroplasticity. Whereas routines allow the brain’s basal ganglia to run on “autopilot” to conserve energy, introducing new experiences—such as driving on the other side of the road—challenges the brain, keeps it agile, and enables it to make new connections.
For me, this is what I appreciated most about the initial challenge of driving on the other side of the road Forced me to figure things out immediately. Unlike other areas of my life and work, I didn’t have the luxury of sitting back and telling myself I’d figure it out tomorrow.
I had an ass already In the driver’s seat of a rental car in a country far away from home! If I wanted to get where I was going (which I did) and there was no other way to get there (which wasn’t), I would was Learn the new rules of the road and figure out how to drive safely, right then and there.
And I did. And by the end of my two weeks of driving in Ireland, it felt like I’d been driving on the left side of the road my whole life.
So it’s time to stir the mental pot again…
After safely returning my rental car to Dublin airport (proud as a peacock, I tell you) I flew to Greece. The few days I spent on the island of Naxos, there was no need for a rental car. But when I visited Folegandros Island, I had to rent a car because my guest house was not accessible by public transport – or taxis for that matter…because the road below the house is too steep and too bumpy for a taxi driver’s liking.
And my choice, for that matter. But I’ll get to that in a moment.
Since they drive on the right side of the road in Greece, I now had to flip my magical mental incantation:
“Right to live; left to die”
which is equal to more Sicker than the first version…but well worth it considering the huge drop to the sea along Folegandros’ many hilly roads.
But first I had to get from Mountain road…that almost didn’t happen.
I took the ferry to Folegandros, where the man from the rental car company met me. After signing the contract and getting the keys, I walked over to my small rental car and climbed in, still feeling confident from my successful experience driving in Ireland. Then I looked down.
oh Shit.
It was a standard. I haven’t changed sticks in over two decades!
now I had to get used to driving on the right side of the road again, while shifting gears… probably one of the most hilly islands in Greece! The roads are extremely steep and very narrow, there aren’t many guard rails, and the cliff drops to the sea below are sometimes hundreds of feet high.
But I’m getting ahead of myself again. First, I need to remember how to drive a standard. Which, oddly enough, was when I heard my brother Doug’s voice in my head, saying something to the effect of “just push in the clutch”.
Doug was the family member who taught me how to drive a model, when I was first learning to drive as a teenager. I wandered around empty shopping mall parking lots. I eventually got the hang of it and graduated to, you know, actual roads—some of which even had an incline.
In other words, I knew I knew how to drive a standard…I didn’t remember how
So I sat there (not an ounce of confidence left, I tell you) in the sweltering heat, racking my brain, trying to recall the exact sequence of steps to start the dreaded car. And Moving should I push the clutch first? So the brake pedal? Does it have to be neutral first? then Do I push the clutch? So put in first gear? Then slowly hit the gas. No, it won’t work: I don’t have three legs! Wait, I think I want to use the hand-brake for something…
oh Shit.
I could feel the panic rising. And then I think of a handy-dandy tool to use on such occasions. No, not my phone. my breath I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing for a few moments, calming myself down.
And then the muscle memory kicked in…and I remembered how to do a standard drive! Sort of. I mean, not like a race car driver. Much like nervous Nelly who drives too slowly because she’s afraid to get out of first gear.
But hey, I made it to the grocery store (finally). Then, after a nerve-wracking and downhill drive (uber hilly) to the other side of the island, then slowly down the very steep, narrow, and dark stone road. Guest House (all the while pumping the poor brake), I reached my beautiful destination.
Sure enough, after ten days of practice, I was a standard driving pro (again). As you can probably imagine, by the time I returned the rental car I was in a bit of a tizzy…although they probably had to put new brakes on the car after I was done.
Leaving our comfort zone and trying new things can be scary and frustrating. Sure, we might be stuck in first gear for a while—but it won’t last forever. Before we know it, we’ll be shifting those gears like a race car driver…respecting the poor scum in front of us who’s going too slow up that hill for our liking.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”
– Theodore Roosevelt
Previously published in Pink Gazelle
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