According to the site Positive Psychology’s page on the topic, ‘the phrase “comfort zone” was coined by management thinker Judith Bardwick in her 1991 work Danger in the Comfort Zone. In which Bardwick writes: “The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance, usually without a sense of risk.”
In simple terms, the comfort zone is where you put the line up between what you think is OK, and what you think is not OK. It’s where you define the edge of where you feel safe. Bardwick notes that this is a ‘behavioral state.’ States change: ice melts, water freezes, and liquid evaporates. The changes of state happen when there’s a trigger point, right? But what is it, exactly, can we pinpoint it?, that leads us to change states regarding drawing the lines that mark our sense of safety. There’s emotional safety, psychological safety, physical safety… oh, wait. I have a story… Safety, in a very physical sense, is part of this ‘comfort zone’ thing.
Because: boxes.
‘When we stop growing, we start dying’
Here is a video we’ll discuss, too. I ask you to watch it before joining in on the zoom voice call. It is by a thoughtful creative practitioner and musician, Tony Hseih.