10 From GEM:
10 Ways to Stretch Your Comfort Zone
We all seek comfort. We all want lower stress and lower anxiety. To be in a comfort zone is a good thing because we feel in control over our lives and we feel a sense of security, but we must leave room for the expansion and enhancement of our thoughts and feelings. We must make an effort to stretch our boundaries every once in a while. To function in this state of anxiety neutrality is healthy provided we do not become too reliant on the same state of being which will impact our lives negatively and place us in a mundane existence.
So while it’s a good thing to keep things constant, it’s even better to stretch out a little bit every once in a while. “Anxiety improves performance until a certain optimum level of arousal has been reached. Beyond that point, performance deteriorates as higher levels of anxiety are attained.” Yerkes, R & Dodson, J.