When do we need comfort zone?

Lately, I was listening to a Hidden Brain podcast. The podcast focuses a discussion on the research evidences on how the like-people co-operate well in healthcare sector. The podcast cited some case studies where racial disparity played a role in healthcare section. For instance, in the treatment of the black patients having diabetes and cholesterol, the black doctors achieved a higher rate of success in making their patients getting checked blood pressure and body mass measured regularly, compared to the non-black doctors. The similar better outcomes were also noticed in other areas of medical complications that the black patients showed a good rate of cure when treated by black doctors. And the reason is, it is not that the black doctors are highly skilled compared to non-black doctors. Something beyond skills is actually working here. When probed deeply, the satisfying result found from a detailed research on this case study is that the black doctors and black patients are connecting more as human beings than as professionals. They had more similar stuff to talk about and are more personally connected and trust and compassion make the patient to visit regularly and keep their things tested and follow the prescriptions properly.

In our life we can notice a sudden feeling of comfortableness in a new place when we randomly bump into people of our kind- maybe people from our locality, or having similar taste in food choices or share common interests. This is because our mind constantly seeks for comfortable zone. In terms of psychology, the comfort zone is defined as "a psychological state in which things feel familiar to a person and they are at ease and in control of their environment, experiencing low levels of anxiety and stress." We are more likely to share our feelings and get comfortable with the like-minded people.

Photo by Benjamin Finley on Unsplash

But, while talking about comfort zones, an alarm of notification from motivational speakers, school teachers and whoever the great people the world considers would hit us hard- you should get out of the comfort zone to have a better life. True, being surrounded by people from variety of fields having diverse ideas can build a platform of competitiveness. In this new zone, a personal store of untapped version of one will get unleashes where one could literally see the growth of oneself. Several researches also support this argument that a person's full potential reveals only when he/she gets out of the comfort zone.

Let's bring this argument to the table. When do we really need to get settled with the comfort zone and at which point should we need to get out of it? We could find the answer by probing on the real purpose. When it comes to workplace, we should not be surrounded completely by like-minded people. It is good to have people of diverse ideas and interests. It'll help in pointing out where the real mistake happens and congregate all the better ideas to bring out the most positive result. Also, it is not that one should be constantly in need of growth in life. There are times we need to feel safe, free from anxiety and share our feelings and thoughts. If the goal is the need of effective communication, compassion and mutual trust then like-people will do better to reach these goals. Our mindset should be trained in a way that should adapt well with the comfort zone and should never be afraid to seek opportunities by stepping out to expand our zone of comfort.

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