Escaping Your Comfort Zone…From Within Your Comfort Zone

Our personal and professional lives are full of big steps and momentous happenings — negative and positive. We set goals and we work hard, we move through moments of being more or less motivated. We are always working toward something — the big move, the degree, the promotion, etc. Eventually, it will happen to you. Or, more so, you will make it happen.

Once we achieve a goal, we immediately ask ourselves, what’s next? Sure, that’s a great question, but we also need to sit in our joy and be in the moment we’ve worked toward. Be content. Be comfortable.

Comfort is the goal, isn’t it? But just because you achieve comfort and contentment doesn’t mean you are going to remain satisfied. It doesn’t mean you’re done.

Recently, I’ve come to realize that situations characterized by comfort can serve a dual purpose. In moments of comfort, stability and happiness, we have the freedom to choose to remain in stillness for as long as we desire. But then, we will eventually have an urge for a change. This does not necessarily mean you have to exit the comfortable situation to scratch that itch. I present to you: escaping your comfort zone from within your comfort zone.

I have worked with Digital Relativity since October of 2021. My first year at DR was chock-full of fast-growth opportunities as both a professional designer and an artist. I settled into my current role, and about six months in, I realized I was comfortable. I found contentment in my daily tasks, and I could efficiently accomplish my responsibilities. The only difficult part of being in this ideal situation, at least for me, is personal accountability. A safe and comfortable environment can trick you into an idle existence. 

Before I could sit with these thoughts for too long, DR presented me with the opportunity to travel across the country to Los Angeles for the first time to attend a creative conference. I found myself in the company of thousands of other creatives for a full week, immersed in a community of people who were intentionally seeking creative growth from various stages of their careers.  

I realized then that the position I was in was incredibly unique. I could work and feel good about what I was doing every day, while still furthering my skills and without fearing a negative impact on the products I was delivering. I could improve behind the scenes and still show up at the front of the house in whatever capacity was needed. And the best part? DR wanted me to do it. 

Thanks to the flux of agency life, I have periods throughout the work day I can fill with training. Never stop learning is a core value at DR, and as such, we are encouraged to use our downtime to actively pursue additional learning endeavors. This approach helps us remain agile as an agency. I initially began pursuing skills that had always been of interest to me — specifically, illustration and animation. I taught myself animation entirely through free online resources, progressing from a novice with no prior knowledge to my current level (a fairly confident beginner), all while working on the job. My director recognized this potential, and now I am furthering my knowledge by working through a 12-week course DR has enrolled me in, and I am incredibly excited to see what I can learn.

In the last year, I’ve shifted from questioning if comfort hinders growth to finding passion in growing within my comfort zone. And when you are progressing in ways you are excited about and have a great team behind you, the motivation to push yourself even when you are comfortable becomes easier to come by. 

The value of a company that builds up its employees from a place of comfort cannot be overemphasized. The ability to learn and work simultaneously is priceless — especially when the people who facilitate that learning are those who employ you.