The Rustout Issue: Why We Stay in Our Comfort Zone And Tend to Stagnate in Life?

We start off the same way. In the beginning, we’re excited, eager, and energetic. We have dreams we want to pursue. A desire to make something of ourselves, coupled with an earnest intention to overcome any obstacles that come our way. Somewhere along the way through, we hit a wall. We stop learning. We look around and see other people are content with where they are. So we sit and rest for a while in a safe haven until we feel motivated enough to start working on our goals again. We wait. That is until awhile turns into months, then years. One day, you look back and realize that you’ve been stuck in the same spot for the past decade. We decide to stop trying things because where we are is “good enough”. We start to feel comfortable, to the point that anything new is immediately averted.

This phenomenon is known as rust out. It happens when we stop challenging ourselves and always opt for the safe route. We simply exist, without reflecting on how we can grow. There’s a feeling of numbness as we expose ourselves to the same things, places, and people on a daily basis. While burnout is a result of doing too much, rust out happens when we don’t do enough meaningful activities. After staying in one spot for a long time, we gradually stagnate. And while burnout erodes your energy, rust outwears away at your will and spirit. When we feel discomfort, we often brush it aside. We bandage up the issue instead of getting to the root of the matter. We prolong bad situations because we don’t want to change directions. We feel comfortable being in the same box, even if we know it’s harmful in the long run.

But there’s a wide chasm between knowing and doing something about it. So how do you connect the two? By doing one small tweak. Rather than thinking big, think different. Thinking big is paralyzing because it’s hard to translate thoughts into actions. Instead, start with one small thing you can do. When you do something outside your comfort zone, you realize that perceptions and reality are different. You learn that most of your limitations are due to self-inflicted beliefs, rather than by what is actually possible. That one small tweak can snowball into the big change you’re looking for. Happy Sunday!! Keep Moving & Smiling!!🏃🏽😊