Trapped in Your Business Comfort Zone

Working inside your business comfort zone is costly and dangerous.  The business comfort zone will destroy your bottom line and stall your success. Once settled into your comfort zone, it’s hard to pack up and leave.  You’ve carefully chosen the décor, the location and negotiated the lease, so you hunker down and stay awhile.  It’s hard to make money running a business trapped inside your comfort zone.  Outside your comfort zone is where the opportunities for possibilities and growth live.

The best definition I heard was from my coach; a business comfort zone is a behavioral state where 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.  Basically, good is good enough. Don’t rock the boat and playing it safe is better than taking a risk.

I talk to business owners every day who hire me to deliver a sales coaching program. They declare they want to close more sales and earn more money.  They’re ready to change their attitudes, break old habits and start making things happen in their business. They set ambitious sales goals and ready to blaze a new trail. They’re off and running!  Often, the original momentum these business owners created; the momentum that got the ball rolling then stalls. In trying to change their attitudes and habits they revert to the safety of their personal comfort zone.

Everyone has their own personal comfort zone.  You have built-in mechanisms that regulate your level of anxiety, fear, and discomfort. When you experience anything outside the norm, you begin to feel anxious. Your natural tendency is to retreat into lock down mode and crawl back inside the safety of the comfort zone. The only way out is to hire a sales coach.

These business owners found themselves operating in a comfortable rut. That rut limits their possibilities, their thinking and their success. If you want a thriving business you have to take some risks. Deliberately push yourself out of your ruts and routines. Try things you don’t normally do. I’m not suggesting cliff diving in Mexico or running with the bulls in Spain.  I’m suggesting you start small, go out on a limb and expand your comfort zone.

We all like a little comfort and that’s normal.  Humans are wired to seek comfort. The comfort zone becomes a problem when you make a choice to keep playing it safe. When you hold yourself back and hide, you’re effectively saying no to a thriving business.  When given the chance to enter uncharted territory, where life’s future is unpredictable, people often choose not to change, clinging to the comfortable situation. You can’t make money and your business can’t flourish in your comfort zone.

Brian Tracy says, “Ninety to ninety-five percent of people will withdraw to the comfort zone when what they try doesn’t work. Only that small percentage, 5 or 10 percent, will continually improve themselves; they will continually push themselves out into the zone of discomfort, and these are always the highest performers in every field.”

By not stretching and expanding beyond your business comfort zone, you’re going to be in the same place tomorrow and the next day and the next. It’s not easy to come out of your comfort zone -- but your comfort has a price.  How much is yours costing you?

If you need a gentle nudge, a slight push or a full-blown shove out of your comfort zone, this sales coach is ready to assist you.

Liz Wendling, the sales coach for women is one of Denver’s top sales coaches. Liz believes everyone is in sales and specializes in teaching women and business leaders how to prosper by overcoming the fear and anxiety inherent in sales. She coaches women (and smart men) on how to create immediate sales results, achieve lasting business success and permanently raise their bottom line.  For a FREE download of the Seven Deadly Sales Mistakes And How To Avoid Them! Go to www.salescoachforwomen.com or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it