24 Nov |
Backwards Advice? Keep Your Clients “IN” Their Comfort Zone!By Susan Whitcomb | No Comments »
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We’ve heard for years that “results come outside the comfort zone”! “Stretch yourself!” “Think outside the box.”
To some degree those statements are true. And yet, from what we know about brain-based research, there’s evidence that urging people to shift outside of their comfort zone may actually be less effective. Here’s why.
The Red Zone
Our brains translate the phrase “Beyond the comfort zone” as “risk, threat, danger.” Risk, threat, and danger puts the brain into a fight-flight state. In that fight-flight state:
- Cortisol and adrenalin are released,
- Blood pumps to the large muscle groups so that we can fight or flee,
- Blood flow is reduced in the executive function of the brain.
In short, it puts folks in what I call “the red zone”!
When blood flow is reduced to the prefrontal cortex (our executive brain), we are robbed of our ability to think as creatively, clearly, and strategically . . . the very thing we need to do when we are in an unfamiliar situation (aka, outside our comfort zones)!
The Blue/Green Zone
Conversely, if we can help clients shift into the blue/green zone, they will be operating with full-functioning capacity of their brain. When all of this happens, “happy” neurotransmitters are pulsing through the brain and the body—dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, etc.—and, in turn:
- Ideas flow and insights comes
- Possibilities and hope increases
- Energy rises, which gives rise to courage and confidence
So, the next time you’re working with a client and you notice they’re feeling out of their comfort zone, shift them into the brain’s “comfort zone”—that blue/green space of creativity and confidence first! In doing so, you are creating new neural pathways that will make the new thing (the change, the challenge) no longer outside the comfort zone, but part of it! That’s powerful!