Everyone is always advocating the importance of “stepping out of your comfort zone” - but what does that really mean? All anyone tends to know is that it’s scary, hard, and makes you want to lie in your bed and re-watch The Office for the 28th time. But getting out of your comfort zone, in all seriousness, has huge benefits: disrupting your routine and exposing yourself to new people, experiences, and places can only help you learn more about yourself and build a life that’s truly meaningful. If you’ve started off the year with a desire to get out of your comfort zone, I recommend starting with manageable, low-stakes (and inexpensive) steps to get you started and work up from there. Hopefully these 8 ways to step out of your comfort zone are a good start!

1. Try A New Genre Of Books, Movies, TV Shows, And/Or Podcasts

If you’ve historically gravitated towards historical fiction reads, try a sci-fi story. If you like romantic comedies, try screening a few psychological thrillers. Changing up what we consume exposes us to new ideas, perspectives, art forms, and questions. Having new types of art and media in your back pocket also opens up opportunities for common ground with new people! 

2. Host Or Attend A Clothing Swap And Switch Up Your Style

Have you ever seen someone on the street wearing something that made you say “man, I wish I could pull that off?” Well, I’m here to tell you: pulling something off is 90% having the confidence to wear it in the first place. Try gathering a few friends whose style you enjoy, have everyone gather some pieces that are in good condition but that they’re getting sick of, and try swapping pieces to give everyone a little wardrobe face-lift! This is an inexpensive way to change up your closet while exposing you to pieces of clothing you may not have even thought about for yourself normally. Fashion is a wonderful and super underrated way to express facets of your identity, and experimenting with  fashion can help you in your journey to get to know yourself better. Plus, a clothing swap is SUCH a fun thing to do with friends! 

3. Host A Small Event, Gathering, Or Group Activity

So much of social life as an adult is either spending time with people at work or school, or going out to public places like restaurants, bars, shows, etc. Try switching things up by hosting a small get together at your home or a nearby location. Hosting can be daunting: determining the time, place, guest list, activity, etc. can be a lot of pressure. But trusting yourself to take ownership over an experience is a great way to get out of your comfort zone, and can provide you a real sense of agency and empowerment - as well as an opportunity to get people from different areas of your life together in one room. Try starting with a small dinner party, a game or movie night, or a wine & cheese night, and see how it goes!

4. Plan A Day Trip To Experience Something New

There’s no need to book an extravagant trip abroad for novelty and fun - I guarantee there is something totally different from your day to day life a short drive or train ride from you! Brainstorm an activity, site, or community nearby that you’ve never been to, set a date on your calendar, and commit to go. Some ideas are: going on a hike, visiting a local winery/cidery/brewery, visiting a lake or beach, attending a craft show or theater, etc.

While the activities in themselves may not feel like they’re taking you out of your comfort zone, simply beginning to prioritize and weave these experiences into your life and calendar is new and exciting, and can set the stage for more new things to come.

5. Reach Out To A New Or Old Connection

Reaching out to someone you either haven’t spoken to in a while, or who is a new presence in your life can be incredibly anxiety-producing. But it’s also a fantastic opportunity to expand your community, learn about a person with different mindsets and approaches to life than you, and potentially develop a meaningful relationship. Try focusing on someone who you find interesting or intriguing in some way, but may not feel that you would typically have a lot in common with. Send them a short but clear text or email - maybe something along the lines of “Hey! I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, but I was just thinking about you the other day and would love to catch up if you’re around on Saturday. No pressure if you’re busy!” If that doesn’t feel comfy to you, check out these other tips for non-awkward ways to reconnect with old connections. 

Whether you connect with a new or old person, you’ll be surprised what you can learn about yourself and others through engaging with people different from you!

6. Engage & Share Your Creative Side

Whip out your paint brushes, take some time to jot some poetic phrases down in a notebook, learn how to decorate one of your walls on Youtube - engaging in the creative side of your brain can look like so many different things. Remember that engaging in creativity is for you: it flexes different muscles in your brain, opens up new avenues to community, exposes you to new world takes, etc. - you don’t have to be a master at your craft! 

7. Challenge Yourself To Be Vulnerable

You may read this one and think “ummmmm actually, that’s not manageable OR low-stakes for me…” To that, I would say, it can be! Choosing to be vulnerable can happen on whatever scale that you choose - small, large, and anything in between. Start with choosing one relationship in your life that you want to deepen a bit. The next time you see them, challenge yourself to answer questions more honestly, or share something with them that you’ve been wanting to share but feel nervous to. If you need some inspo, try one of these strategies or questions in your interaction. See how your body feels after you share, and try your best to be present in their response. If it feels OK overall, try taking another step towards vulnerability in your next interaction. This practice is just a suggestion - feel free to challenge yourself to be vulnerable in whatever way feels right to you. And if you want some practice in vulnerability before doing this, you can skip to number 8 on this list…

8. Attend a Skip The Small Talk event, of course!

This one’s self-explanatory, if not a shameless plug. Grab a ticket to an event near you, or attend an online STST to get out of that comfort zone and have vulnerable conversations with like-minded folks!