Older women are at a disadvantage when it comes to busting out of their comfort zones. In fact, unless they make an intentional effort to continue doing and trying new things, they’ll find their confidence and world shrinking. Read on for more reasons why older women should step outside their comfort zones.
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Have you ever known an older woman who slowly went from being a courageous, “I can handle it” young woman to a fearful, “I can’t do that” little old lady (at least figuratively speaking)? You may wonder what happened to cause what seems like such a pretty severe personality change.
Perhaps you’ve watched as your own mother or someone else close to you seemed to shrink from the world as they got older. They no longer had the confidence to try new things and they seemed to actively resisted anything new and different.
It was so totally different from the way they’d been in the past. And you’re likely experiencing some worry and concern that you’ll end up the same way…timid, scared, and stuck in a world that gets smaller by the day.
These are three good reasons why older women should step outside their comfort zones.
1 – Your Comfort Zone Won’t Automatically Increase As You Get Older
The truth is that we’re all getting older every day. It’s just the natural progression of life. But while getting older is mandatory, becoming older in our thinking is not.
But unless we make conscious choices to continue doing and learning new things, we may find ourselves looking in the mirror and seeing someone we don’t recognize staring back at us.
Things are moving so fast in our world that it’s easy to get left behind. It seems that every time we turn around there’s something new in the world of technology and communications. Most of us are using items that we couldn’t even imagine until just a very few years ago.
I remember watching The Jetsons cartoon when I was a kid. Those things that were so futuristic – such as talking to someone over the TV screen or having a robot clean your house (or at least vacuum your floors) – are things that are common place today.
Things like our phones, smart watches, Ring doorbells, Alexa, online shopping, banking, meal delivery programs…all were previously unheard of…until they weren’t.
And now we wonder how we ever got along without them.
Science fiction often turns into science fact.
Therefore, it’s a logical assumption that things will continue to progress, improve, and change until in a few years there are even more things that will be vital to everyday functioning that we can’t begin to fathom now either.
I’m still waiting for my robot Rosie who can clean my house all by herself. I hope that one is on the horizon and gets here soon!
Most of us would probably prefer not to be that old person who either refuses to learn, use, or participate in what’s current, or who has to holler for help every time something changes. But unless we just want to become obsolete, then older women need to step outside their comfort zone as much as possible now.
2 – Your Comfort Zone May Shrink As You Get Older
As we age our comfort zone may actually shrink. Age has a tendency to cause us to be more fearful…which is normal considering that we’re not as strong as we used to be nor do we physically “bounce back” as quickly if we’re hurt.
As older women, we’re also likely to feel more vulnerable. Things are scary when you know that you’re not at the height of your physical, mental, and emotional strength. Realizing that you’re more vulnerable does not tend to encourage risk taking of any kind.
Therefore it’s important to keep moving forward and taking steps to stay current for as long as we can.
Here’s the deal – when we step outside our comfort zones, we’re preventing what you might call “comfort zone decomposition” (I just made that term up) from setting in.
It’s like exercising a muscle and each attempt you make helps make subsequent attempts easier. This is why it’s important for older women to step outside their comfort zone – doing so makes future attempts easier and less frightening..
3 – Remaining In Your Comfort Zone Is Equivalent To Giving Up
Staying in our comfort zone as we age is like waving a white flag at life and saying, “I surrender.” It forecloses the possibility that there are still new things for us to learn, discover, and do simply because we’ve decided that we’re not going to pursue them.
And yes, it IS a decision…whether conscious or subconscious.
However, as older women, now is the perfect time to start working on things that we may have put off in the past.
You May Still Have Things Left To Accomplish
If there were hopes and dreams that we put on the back burner, what better time than now to pull them out and start working to achieve them? After all, some (at least) of the responsibilities that we had when we were younger are likely not a variable at this stage of the game. Our kids are probably grown, we may have quit or retired from our jobs – or are very close to doing so. And this may be the perfect time to do some of those things that we’ve put off “till later”.
NOW…is that later we always talked about!
Revisiting the hopes, dreams, and goals we had in the past helps us determine which of those things we’d like to bring into our future…and then to develop a plan to achieve them. Granted, we may also find that some things we wanted in the past are no longer so important, but that knowledge will help us hone in on the ones that are.
It May Be Now…or Never
But here’s the deal…you are NOT too old, and it’s NOT too late.
But if you don’t do it now, then when?
After all, time does keep passing.
At this stage of the game, the only thing that’s probably holding us back is our fear…and that’s because we’re stuck in our comfort zone.
The question becomes one of whether you’re content to remain stuck in your comfort zone while letting your dreams die…or whether you want more.
The status quo can be a real dream killer if we let it. And it’s the birthplace of regrets.
Don’t Let Your Fear Keep You From Trying
Okay, let’s assume for a minute that you do take that step out of your comfort zone and you try something you’ve always wanted to pursue…and you fail.
Oh My Gosh! How horrible! The world will end…right?
Of courses not…I was being facetious.
Because you’re a grown woman and you’ve experience enough at this stage of the game to know that things generally aren’t as dire or catastrophic as we imagine them to be.
Not everything we choose to do will automatically be a success. None of us can avoid some failure in life.
Failure Can Be A Lesson…If We Let It
But what’s really the worst thing that can happen if we fail at something? The truth is that if we fail at something, we’ll learn something in the process.
And if we’re not so overcome with feelings of “I can never do THAT again!” then we’ll back up, regroup, and try again. And this time we’ll likely do better.
Personally, I’d rather risk looking foolish by trying something and failing, than to not try and never know what might have been.
After all, it someone laughs at me, it’s really not that big of a deal (I’ve been laughed at before). But as a person with a health condition, I know that I’d better get busy before time runs out lest I get to the end and experience regret because I let the opinions of others stop me from pursuing something I wanted.
Regret Is Final
I also don’t want to get to the end and realize that I was my own biggest obstacle either, and that’s why stepping outside my comfort zone as an older woman is so important.
Conclusion:
They say it’s not over till the fat lady sings…and I haven’t started singing yet. So if you aren’t ready to retreat into a shrinking world and live in a comfort zone bubble, then it’s time to start taking steps now to prevent that from happening.
As older women, stepping outside our comfort zones can be scary, but taking one step makes the next step easier. And since we’re not done yet, now is the perfect time to get out of that comfort zone and pursue the things that are still on your list to do.
Now is the perfect time…and it will help us keep from turning into someone we don’t want to be.
For more information about dealing with and escaping your comfort zone, check out this book The Comfort Zone: Create a Life You Really Love With Less Stress and More Flow by Kristen Butler
More before you go:
I help older women get past their fear and mindset issues so they can create a plan to pursue their goals and dreams.
How To Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone Without Even Leaving Home