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Crushing the Comfort Zone

MakeItHappen

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I have a cold showers most days at my gym, but I welcome them as I stay in the sauna for as long as possible and the cold shower comes more as a relief.
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Is the same the case if you take cold showers lets say first thing in the morning?
Also I think it depends on how cold the water is. In my gym the water doesn't even get all that cold while at home it gets cold enough to hurt a little bit.
Cold showers are also a lot colder in a cold environment. In summer the cold showers aren't the same as in winter and that's where ice bath are a nice addition.
 
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RazorCut

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Cold showers at home certainly hurt more. The water is cold at the gym (there is a dedicated cold shower right outside the steam room and sauna) and it certainly is a shock to the system. However even the regular showers in the changing rooms are only what I'd call warm. Then again I do like a really hot shower.

My old gym used to have a plunge pool outside the sauna. That was bracing. lol
 

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Great idea for a thread!

I see you already have done to cold shower you could increase the discomfort by taking an ice bath.

Usually if you get out of your comfort zone often enough doing the same thing the discomfort will go away but with cold showers the discomfort stays especially if you hadn't a cold shower for a couple of days in a row.

On top of that cold showers have a lot of great health benefits.


Yes this is really real, if I miss one day of my cold shower then Its much harder to come back to it and you need to get your breathing also right.

I’d really like to try the ice bath, that would crush comfort even harder.
 

Get Right

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CCZ #3 - Call a business competitor

Idea: Entrepreneur Magazine/ Random article I remembered
How this is uncomfortable: I mean, who would want to do that?!

Pre-Event Anxiety level (1-5): Level 2, The idea of this bothered me more than the task. What will he say? Would he laugh? Would he punch me? Once again I just committed to doing it.

How it went: I wanted to maximize this task. I wanted to push every boundary I could so....I actually met with him! No calls or emails, just went ahead and met in person. To make it more uncomfortable, I asked him to refer me some of his lower hanging fruit projects/clients. Ha!

Immediate Reaction(s): I felt like I controlled the situation! Much different than how I thought it would go. I want say I had a good time but it was tense! After the shock wore off (of both of us) and we let our guards down, we actually started to talk about our businesses. It got quite comfortable towards the end.

Reactions after an hour: Ain't going to lie. I felt like Superman. I felt like I could do just about anything.

Final Reaction: Oddly enough my confidence is still remaining very high. And that was yesterday.

Willingness to repeat (1-5): 3, I would do this again, but not for the same reason.

Notes: Now for the fun part. My competitor subsequently told me that he is meeting with his partner to see how we can make a deal work. What a turn of events. From just stepping out of the CZ.


Eat the three foods you hate most.
Yell random things and do jumping jacks/push-ups in a crowded public space.

Added, thanks!

asking for a 10% discount at Starbucks

Also added, thank you!

Do you have a fear of heights?

I'm good there since I work at heights a lot. I'm not fond of moving around at heights though. I'll add the zip line though because it sounds uncomfortable from a "no control" aspect.
 
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Get Right

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CCZ #4 (eat 3 things I hate)

This idea comes from @wade1mil !

Son of a bi$%& I don't want to do this one. Okay so I HATE:

1. Beef Liver
2. Water Chestnuts
3. LaCroix sparkling water (Coconut is the absolute worst)

So I'm going to make myself dinner tomorrow using all three. No cheating either, no breading or frying or covering it up with sauce. Just the ingredients and a few spices to accent the uggghhh flavors.

Not happy.
 

MTF

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Wow, awesome thread! It's one of my favorite topics, so here are some ideas for you:
  • fear of heights - if you have a fear of heights, try rock climbing, skydiving, or fly a hot-air balloon,
  • travel solo - ideally go to an exotic country where everything is strange,
  • fast for at least 24 hours - and if you want to push yourself, 48+ hours,
  • afraid of water - try surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, diving, etc.,
  • if you're single - try speed dating or approach a girl somewhere in the public,
  • sleep on the floor - just a good way to remember how comfortable a bed is,
  • learn the basics of a foreign language - and go somewhere where you can use it and embarrass yourself with your poor skills,
  • go barefoot in the public - in some countries it's super normal (I've been in Australia the past few weeks and I don't wear shoes at all here - it's pretty common), but I know that in the US in many places it's taboo,
  • invest more than comfortable in a high-risk, high-reward business opportunity - a good way to think bigger by taking bigger risks,
  • go to a nude beach - super awkward at first, but it's a VERY powerful way to expand your comfort zone,
  • try wild camping - just make sure it's legal and maintain safety procedures if in bear country,
  • try public speaking - the easiest way is to attend a local Toastmasters meeting,
  • work on your endurance - do something that requires a lot of physical and mental endurance like running a marathon,
  • learn how to dance - this is super weird if you can't dance at all,
  • learn how to sing - same as above,
  • maintain eye contact - when you catch somebody looking at you, maintain eye contact until they look away (ideally do this with a beautiful girl, not a ripped bodybuilder lol).
Thank you for starting this thread and posting your updates - I really enjoyed reading them and am looking forward to more reports.
 

amp0193

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Notes: Now for the fun part. My competitor subsequently told me that he is meeting with his partner to see how we can make a deal work. What a turn of events. From just stepping out of the CZ.

Gave me a good idea man.

I never like to leave customers hanging. I want to help them even if they don't go with us. If our product can't meet their needs I tell them to call the ones who are a better fit.

I should call those competitors up and get a referral code! They don't even know I'm doing it.
 

RazorCut

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Gave me a good idea man.

I never like to leave customers hanging. I want to help them even if they don't go with us. If our product can't meet their needs I tell them to call the ones who are a better fit.

I should call those competitors up and get a referral code! They don't even know I'm doing it.

I've done this in the past with customers who have phoned as they couldn't find exactly what they wanted off our website. If I couldn't help I would tell them who could (even giving them the telephone number of the competitor) and just told them to say they had spoken to me and I had recommended them.

Over the years I was amazed at the number of calls I have received where this has been reciprocated or came from companies that obviously knew us but I had never heard of.

I'm good there since I work at heights a lot. I'm not fond of moving around at heights though. I'll add the zip line though because it sounds uncomfortable from a "no control" aspect.

This was my son's issue. He drives a Mercedes AMG A45 and loves speed but only if he's in control.
 

Get Right

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CCZ #4 - Eat 3 things I hate

Idea: @wade1mil
How this is uncomfortable: We get to pick our food most of the time. What would it be like to pick the opposite of what you like?

Pre-Event Anxiety level (1-5): Level 2, Not too much anxiety on this one because I just knew it was going to suck. I think the success of the last few CCZ's is making me less anxious about new challenges.

How it went: This task had several steps so the build up was intense. I started by finding the supermarket butcher and asking where the liver was. Super uncomfortable because it took 2 of them to find some. I thought even they were going to hurl. Next, you should have seen the look on the supermarket cashier's face... Beef liver, water chestnuts and grapefruit water. It's hard to even type. I cooked them on the grill because I wasn't having that smell in the house. Salt and pepper only. I added some onion and squash because guess what?! My kids did the challenge too!
20181216_180310.jpg

Immediate Reaction(s): This absolutely turned my stomach...on so many levels. The grapefruit water was terrible. The water chestnuts tasted like a salt, vinegar apple. But nothing, I mean nothing would approach the sin of that liver. It was so bad It made the other items good! I found myself eating and drinking the other stuff just to avoid the liver. I kept fighting it though and got about half of it down.

Reactions after an hour: Stomach still churning. I keep telling myself "that liver was bad man" over and over.

Final Reaction: I hope there is no final reaction...but I wouldn't bet on it.

Willingness to repeat (1-5): 1, No. I'm not doing this again.

Notes: This CCZ was pretty uncomfortable. Each step represented an opportunity to either give up or cheat. I just kept moving forward. I'm taking that as the lesson this time. Embrace the suck and just keep moving man!
 
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Get Right

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RazorCut

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Reactions after an hour: Stomach still churning. I keep telling myself "that liver was bad man" over and over.

Final Reaction: I hope there is no final reaction...but I wouldn't bet on it.

Willingness to repeat (1-5): 1, No. I'm not doing this again.

Hahahaha was there a reason you went for Beef Liver? Pig's or lambs is much more palatable. Well done on facing your fears.

No Coffee.

Cold Turkey for a Week. Not even to wake up with.

Brutal especially if it's an ingrained habit.

I did this and I was a SERIOUS coffee drinker. So much so that my favourite coffee company even sent me a premium t-shirt with my favourite blend on.

Beware this can have bad side effects. I had days of severe headaches as well as the shakes, fatigue and a total lack of concentration. I'd suggest researching caffeine withdrawal symptoms before agreeing to add this one.
 
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Weighing food and tracking calories for a certain period, very convenient with MyFitnessPal app.

Don't know if that counts as moving out of your comfort zone but you could give it a try if you haven't yet. Just a suggestion. :p
 

Miorin

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Just got out of my comfort zone and I'm feeling really stressed, but it's a thing that I have to do long-term.
Kinda curious to see if this anxiety will go away and the thing i'm doing will become my new comfort zone.
 
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MakeItHappen

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Kinda curious to see if this anxiety will go away and the thing i'm doing will become my new comfort zone.
If you keep doing it repeatedly it most likely will, unless you have some very bad and painful experiences outside your comfort zone. lol
 

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Just got out of my comfort zone and I'm feeling really stressed, but it's a thing that I have to do long-term.
Kinda curious to see if this anxiety will go away and the thing i'm doing will become my new comfort zone.
What did you try?
 

Get Right

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Hahahaha was there a reason you went for Beef Liver?
I don't mind some of the other livers. It's just the beef one I can't get past. I literally felt sick for most of today.
 
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Miorin

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What did you try?

Talking in the microphone to make info videos.
I don't know why, but IRL I do really well at teaching, but when I speak the microphone, I freeze.

I really feel uncomfortable because people at my house hear me.

Anxiety pre event was 5
During event 3

But I'm getting better at it. That is what matters.

I'm planning to do whiteboard animation youtube videos about self-development in portuguese (high demand, low supply, I did my homework)

And I already did a course on a useful information that no one knows about in my country, no competition heaven. (Importing knowledge, lol)
I just have to record my voice and write a copy now.

Maybe is the fear of "I'm too young, so I'm not good enough." thing. My brain thinks that being 17 is a limitation. Want to work on that aswell.
 

MakeItHappen

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Anxiety pre event was 5
During event 3
That's what you will find to be the case almost always! Fear is an emotion the brain creates with the goal of preventing you from being exposed to "harming" things. However once you are exposed to these things there isn't really any point in being afraid.

It's a good mental model to use imo. Fear is at its worst before you do something out of your comfort zone. So the way to get rid of fear is to do what you are afraid of (as long as you know on an intellectual level that the fear is kinda irrational and unreasonable). The Obstacle is the Way.
 

Pat D. Rick

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So while lying on the floor last night and trying to find some sleep, I thought of some other things that could crush your/my CZ.

Here’s what came to my mind:

· If you hate working out -> go to the gym

· If you hate metal music -> go to a death metal concert

· If you love metal music -> go to the opera instead

· If you are straight -> tell some random dude that you think he is cute (this one is really awkward)

· Pick up your phone, dial a random number and tell the other person that you love him/her

· If you’re a thin & weak guy -> attend at an arm-wrestling tournament

· Go to church in a BATMAN costume

I really like where this thread is going :)
 
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Healthfulness

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I train for triathlon mainly for mindset benefits. Perfect comfort zone-breaker, especially with training buddies who are better than You. Any endurance event (running marathons, road cycling, all kind of ultra races) will make You more mentally tough and help to push trough challenges in both personal un professional life.
Aiming for Ironman distance - 3+km swim, 180km cycling and full marathon afterwards, all in one day in a row. Can't be much more uncomfortable than this. Pure suffering.
 

The-J

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What a cool thread. Got me all introspective and stuff.

Delegation is a big one. When I was still doing a lot of freelancing, I wanted to scale it by hiring freelancers to do the work for me + take the profit off the top. I failed because I chose the wrong freelancers AND because I failed at delegating properly. The spec sheets weren't very good. I didn't have a good handle on what the client wanted, either. Some of the freelancers were late, causing me to be late. All of this is my fault.

But I can move past this. I must move past this. I learned from the experience. Now I have to do better.
 

Get Right

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CCZ #5 (ask for a discount)

This idea comes from @RazorCut !

Such a simple thing to do...or is it!? For this challenge I will be asking for a discount every time I buy something. McD's, asking for it. Gas station, asking for it. Bank fee, yep I'm asking for it. I'm going to make at least 10 "asks" before I report on this. I asked for 3 today and I can tell you, its pretty uncomfortable at some places.

So if someone asks you for a discount at your online store...its probably me.
 
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Get Right

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If you are straight -> tell some random dude that you think he is cute (this one is really awkward)

Added although I have to figure out how to do this without getting punched or making somebody else uncomfortable. For sure, it is going to be mega uncomfortable.
 

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ZCP

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handgrab a catfish

ask the local school if you can speak to the entire assembly about being a business owner

get in a dunking booth for a local charity

attend a wedding of someone you do not know

go streaking
 

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