I long thought that my comfort zone was something out of time, only expanding when I took actions that were outside it. With time however, I discovered that the same action could prove very demanding, or, to the contrary, quite effortless depending on my current mood. Now, I’m mostly talking about socializing and getting things done, but I suspect it might apply to a myriad of other things. As such, I don’t really know anymore if the old adage of getting out of one’s comfort zone is still relevant. Instead of forcing yourself to do something, maybe you should just shift your mood or mentality so that the once-dreaded action becomes easy as pie. You would be going to the source of the problem, as it were.

Except I also often feel resistance when I’m in the right mood and about to take action. I would have the initial impulse to do something, and straight after I would feel that inexplicable block everyone knows all too well. I’ve learned that in those cases, the more you wait, the less likely it is that you’re going to take action; and thus you should act on the impulse right after you first identify resistance.

This is all very nice but it sort of contradicts my initial theory. Could it be that you feel less resistance in certain moods, but that in most cases it’s still there? If you’re bound to be confronted with resistance most of the time, then no matter what your mood is, surely you should take every opportunity to practice overcoming it?

But what about “going with the flow” and doing what feels natural and effortless to you at the moment? You’ll probably end up with less satisfying results than if you had gotten out of your comfort zone, but is it necessarily something to condemn?

I’m becoming aware of how vague all this might sound, whereas my reflections are based on very precise personal experiences. During my last vacation, I caught a cold and didn’t feel like doing anything, so I stayed in bed all day reading blog articles on my smartphone. It felt natural and I enjoyed it. I was productive.

If you’re curious as to what triggered those musings, well, yesterday I felt tipsy after drinking a ridiculously small amount of alcohol, and I could gallop across the road like a child without any effort. This made me realize that my comfort zone is highly dependent on my current mood and mentality.

I must admit that I’m a bit at a loss here, and I don’t really know what to think anymore. I think I’ll stop here, or else I’ll have even more questions left unanswered. Should you have a framework that brings all this together (or not), feel free to share.