Sp and Leaving Your Comfort Zone

sp-last I think

Not sure why I'd leave my comfort zone just for the thrill of leaving my comfort zone



But if something I want is on other side of my comfort zone then it behooves me to leave it and this is something I've been working on more lately

And I want to do everything but my comfort zone is no one noticing me in the process of doing anything so main thing I'm working on is I guess just not caring what people think, which I already don't in many situations so I'm not sure why it's such a challenge

edit: but I haven't found it that I try to do something new and then regret it
regret experiences I didn't have, not ones I did have, hate remembering something I could have done but didn't
Don't regret many experiences unless it was me doing something morally wrong or seriously, legitimately humiliating (not karaoke-humiliating though that seems bad enough at the time) and I would never advise myself to leave my comfort zone in order to do something morally wrong or humiliating so it's not relevant
It's one of the most important things to me, to try new things. The thing that holds me back is 100% always 'people will think I care' 'people will think I'm trying'

Anyways don't think it's sp-related for me
All this is image issues imo, possible 9 fix too, my comfort-zone is 100% a shame thing, not a...comfort thing

crazitaco said:

I'm sp first and I guess it depends on how one defines comfort zone.

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Agreed. The term is really vague, though it kind of has to be. Still, makes it hard to pin down. There's apparently research stating that coming a little bit out of your comfort zone is good, but too much is bad.

I'm rather open to trying new things, unless I know I won't like it. I'm less likely to worry about risks, though I keep them in mind. I've tried, and completed, a lot of things people didn't really expect me to, and 90% of them have been a blast even if I was a little nervous. (This might be my w7 influence, to some degree.) I think coming out of your general comfort zone - or, at least, experiencing and/or learning new things - helps keeps you open-minded, but seeing it as specifically "self-help" is a bit short-sighted, IMO.

The most common thing that I'll truly balk at is coming out of my social comfort zone. Too many bad experiences, not enough good ones to cover up the bad ones yet.

My dad's an 8w9 SO/SP and he might agree with your sentiment, @Anon Pervathon... But then again, his comfort zone might also be "smaller" than most's: he tends to be a bit of a bulldozer. When he does step outside of it, he could easily be confused for a 6 xD He can get really paranoid, but I think it might be his inferior Ni acting up.
My mom's a 6w5 SP/SO and has to be conjoled into doing things, but, like me, usually enjoys a lot more than she expected.

Anon, I can see your point that SP-mids might not want, or need, to come out of their comfort zones much. I'm not entirely sure what kind of situations you mean, so I might be wrong, but maybe it's not so much that they don't need it, but are more likely to go "too far out" because they take SP for granted? Then once the SP gets uncomfortable, it could potentially feel worse in comparison to SP-firsts/lasts simply because their SP is supposed to be comforting and now it's not. (That's really rough phrasing, sorry.) In a way, it'd kind of be like being a child and facing your first "disaster" (idk, losing a favorite toy, breaking up for the first time, etc) and adults telling you "psh just wait til you have a real disaster; this is nothing." Of course it's a big deal for the child since they experienced this and never felt this way before, but everyone is acting like you shouldn't feel so bad because they're 30 years older and dealt with worse things.

iblameyou said:

Completely SP-blind. I'm also an introvert so I will think about who and what I want to spend my energy on [...]

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Me too! I'm totally not Sp-aware but I have some boundaries due to introversion. My problem is, with the things I don't place boundaries on because I value them highly, they can easily take over my life. Like staying on here too long instead of sleeping.

As for comfort zone... I guess I leave it periodically with other people, for other people. But that's sort of a comfort zone in a way. I'm comfortable getting in over my head for others, sort of. It's just a weighed thing, I guess. What's more uncomfortable, letting this person down or do the crazy thing they want to do together? Answer varies greatly depending on the person in question.

Stellafera said:

I do a cost/benefit analysis as well, but I tend to place more value on the experience because I feel like it enriches my life and makes me have more fun stories to tell (which is probably where the So comes in?). Most times where I push myself out of my comfort zone are prefaced by this question:

"Would this make a good story?"

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LOL!

I have the problem of feeling like a weenie and feeling like I shouldn't be a weenie so doing whatever uncomfortable thing anyway. I guess that's the cp bit of 6 in me. DON'T BE A WEENIE, ANGELFISH. DO IT BECAUSE IT SCARES YOU.

irregularpopcorn said:

I'm strongly sp.

I consider my tendencies based on simply saving energy. Going out of my comfort zone can be worth it, if the energy spent is less than the energy and/or material I expect to gain (ie, I work hard at my full time job, and therefore can expect to continue earning acceptable wages which is then distributed to my home, food, clothing, etc).

Therefore it's odd to me when people say this. Go out of my comfort zone... for what, exactly? The price of skydiving is (in addition to the ACTUAL financial and time commitment) a shitload of stress and anxiety, and is that worth the experience? For me, no.

I imagine so and sx types to not frame their decisions that way.

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Hm. Skydiving. Pros: I will feel like a badass. I will have bragging rights. I will have a cool picture of myself in a jumpsuit to post on social media. Cons: I will be terrified for hours. I will have to wear a funny jumpsuit and helmet. I hate helmets. I will have to trust someone I don't know with my life. I will have to go in a plane and I don't like planes very much. I will hurtle quickly towards the ground. I hate the feeling of falling and will have to feel that. I will have to pay money for all of this. I will have to spend time and energy doing all of this. There are other dangerous things like scuba and mountain climbing that are more appealing.

Also no. "Experience" doesn't factor in as "will this memory/these skills be useful". It factors in as "will I remember having done a cool thing". But that's not worth a lot of misery.

Sp-dom.

This question is pretty open ended, but I'm going to try and make my answer concise:

1. I don't really think in terms of comfort zone.

2. I suppose for me, any hands-on learning opportunity that involves a chance of failure (with real world consequences) is a step outside what's comfortable. But I'm also not really... uncomfortable when I do this. It's not SOP, but because I'm going in with a goal in mind it's not really an issue.

3. There are certain "stepping out of what I'm comfortable with" actions that ultimately leave me very unhappy. Specifically in the area of relationships/social things. Example, going to events or meeting people I don't want to meet or converse with. Dating someone just to gain exposure to romantic relationships. I used to do this more because I always wanted to see if I could find a silver lining from any situation. After a few years of this, I'm not as big on that approach. I now turn down any social obligations I am not 100% comfortable doing. It's not worth the energy or effort.


On an enneagram note, I think Sp has nothing to do with comfort zone. Comfort zones are about the Blindspot. Leaving one's comfort zone has less to do with not indulging the first instinct and more to do with paying attention to and prioritizing the last one.

But that's an anecdotally-based idea.

I’m not a comfort zone person. While I don’t intentionally take risks concerning physical safety, and I’m not a daredevil or a rebel, I don’t play it totally safe with experiences. I like novelty a lot. I try new foods, travel to different countries, take some fashion risks. I once quit my job and blew my savings trying to start my own business (it failed). I struggled for 3 years after that to get steady work and had to go crawling back to my parents. Then a year after I finally got a full time job, I basically did it again.

A mundane life frightens me. I’ve never wanted to get stuck in the doldrums with a 9-5 and predictable routine.

I can relate to the mention of energy conservation. This may be my 5 wing talking too. Sometimes I don’t want to get too involved, because it seems tiring. I don’t experience it as fear, even though I seem to fear I can’t handle it (ie don’t have the emotional energy). Consciously I experience it as a hassle with little to no reward. And my social blind spot comes into play here, because I’m most risk adverse in the social realm. I prefer interacting with people I’m already connected to because I know I’ll get a high from that exchange and not be stifled with the social protocol often involved in new interactions.

So the sp 4 is not a “play it safe” type. I’d say that most sp types are not. 9s may fall into extreme lethargy, 6s may look for security and assurances and 1s for orderliness and control, but the others aren’t so risk avoidant at all.