Operating Outside Your Comfort Zone

How do you do when you are operating outside your comfort zone?  Do you adapt or retreat?  I'm still adjusting to my new life 2,000 miles from my comfort zone and I'm learning valuable lessons.  This is not a test.  This is real life.  Here's a few lessons I learned about how to function outside your comfort zone.

1. Trust your instincts.  Even though the situation you are in now may be outside your comfort zone, your own intuition will guide you.
2. Stay calm.  It's normal for your heart rate to accelerate when you're in a tense situation or to get butterflies.  Use that boost of adrenaline to sharpen your senses and avoid the urge to run.
3. Rely on past similar circumstances.  Remember what you did to get through a difficult situation and apply lessons learned from your past to help you when you are facing a predicament.

Think of yourself as a baseball player facing a new pitcher for the first time.  You have no idea what he's going to do, but you can apply all your past experiences to the new situation.  It's the first time he encountered you, so he is also outside his comfort zone.  Is he going to strike you out or are you going to get a hit?  Just follow the three steps above and you will advance, even if the territory is unfamiliar.

Do you remember a time when you were operating outside your comfort zone?  How did you get through it?