Most of us fear what we don't know and have a tendency to doubt ourselves even when we know in our hearts that we can do something. Instead of shying away from a new situation, which is what we are naturally inclined to do when it comes to fear; we should muster up enough confidence to push ourselves forward. As long as we keep in our minds that nothing is ever as bad as it seems, we should not have to worry.

Even children experience these sorts of feelings; like starting their first day of school, going away to summer camp, learning to ride a bike and even social situations. We must first understand how we as humans operate. We have a tendency to stick to what feels most familiar to us. Many of us are afraid to step out of our comfort zones and explore the many wonderful, undiscovered experiences that surround us.

Think about this for a second; how many of us would honestly enjoy staying home all of the time if we didn't own something as simple as a television set? Not many of us would and would probably complain about being bored most of the time. One of the biggest reasons for people taking on second jobs if their main job can't afford to is to buy luxuries for their homes. Plasma television sets, DVD players with a wide collection of movies, Video game systems, computers with access to the internet, entertainment systems, big comfy couches and lazy boy chairs some of the things that give us absolutely no reason to leave our homes other than for work and to go shopping. As okay as this may seem for some, it is actually hurting us more than we think. Staying within our own comfort zone is bad enough but enhancing it by making it even more comfortable, can and will indeed cripple us. This prevents us from moving forward; just as a baby who wants to walk, knows he can walk, but just won't walk unless he has something to hold onto. We all have our comfort zones and tend to have specific areas where we feel it is necessary to still "hold on".

Our minds can present our wants and needs to us easily and attractively; however, the internal process is quite a bit more complicated than that. Ask yourself, what are you holding onto that is preventing you from taking that leap out of your comfort zone and into new territory that will help enhance who you are? Most people find that talking to a friend or to a few friends at one time is pretty easy; but how about talking to an audience for ten minutes about anything you want? Even though you are given the freedom to speak about anything, the thought of talking to an audience has enough potential to put the strongest working anti-perspirant out of business. Forget about giving an hour speech to thousands of people at a time; the thought is merely unthinkable. How many of us know the feeling that comes from leaving our comfort zone, resulting in complete success? Fear is the number one reason that people hesitate to step outside of their comfort zone. Broadening our comfort zone pays off in so many ways; it enables us to obtain the many things that we only dared to dream about. It is very possible for some of us to not even be aware of some of our comfort zones.

Take a look at your life; are you happy with your job? Are you making as much maybe as you'd like? Do you like getting to know new people? Do you have the ability to set new goals for yourself and achieve them? To those who answered yes to these questions, this most likely means that you aren't being hindered by your comfort zones in any way. To those of you who answer no, there might be some issues that you have to work through.

In life, most of us work ourselves into a sweat, thinking about all of the "what if's". Fear has some magical way of making itself much bigger in our minds than it actually is in reality. The sad part is the torture that we put ourselves through, when in fact the outcome is usually no big deal. What I encourage all of us to do is to step out of our comfort zones; starting with the things that we fear the most. By letting fear control us, we will never be able to venture out beyond the four walls that our minds have built around us. Fear is our own protection from the things that make us feel uncomfortable. So by telling fear to step aside and let you grow, there will be nothing else preventing you from going after what it is that you need to. The fear may not diminish overnight, but it soon will; after our minds adjust to the fact that fear is absolutely nothing to fear.

About the Author : Aiyana Rayne is a new kind of virtual office assistant, providing a full-range of office services to home businesses and global conglomerates.