In an Instagram-curated world, hiking adventures may be depicted by an image of intrepid, outdoor-gear clad people standing on a remote mountain top or a rugged outback river gorge.
The effort it took to get to that spectacular place is implied but our focus is on the triumph of the arrival – the destination.
We don’t see the grimace that went with that first step to cross a cold river as the icy water fills our boots. Or the rank wet smell as we slide our feet into damp socks and wet boots the next morning.
There’s no sound of gasping for air as altitude and scree conspire against us up the side of a steep mountain.
There’s no mention of the raw skin left on our hips from the rubbing of the backpack straps, or blisters or lost toenails.
We have no inkling of how many wrong turns were taken and whether snakes, bears or swarms of mosquitoes were encountered on the adventure.
Murchison Gorge - Kalbarri National Park - Western Australia
More specifically, we do not see what personal fears and limitations were conquered to get to that magnificent spot.
There is no attention drawn to the many times the adventure takes us out of our comfort zone and the transformative impact that can have on our lives.
Because that’s the thing about adventure.
It’s all about getting out of your comfort zone!
And getting our comfort zone can be life changing and transformative.
Here are three reasons why:
1. Stepping out of our comfort zones fosters a mindset of growth and learning.
Our comfort zone is a state of being in which we are ‘comfortable’ because there is no stress or anxiety; we are familiar with what we are experiencing, and we do not need to do anything we do not how to do.
Since we are not pushing outside of our limits we don’t get to know what we are capable of doing.
Murchison Gorge - Kalbarri National Park
The first time we step into a river and start to tentatively feel our way around slippery rocks and wade in the opaque, cold water we may not know what we are doing but when we get to the other side of the river, we KNOW we can.
We will never NOT know that we can.
That is transformation.
Plenty of studies tell us that if it’s too easy we do not learn.
We also get to embrace challenge instead of avoiding it.
There is nowhere to go once you are halfway up the side of a scree- covered mountain at 4,000 metres. You either come down or keep going. This carries over into other aspects of our lives. It builds resilience. There is nothing more to do but walk if you are half way along a remote beach with limited access.
The Cape to Cape - Margaret River Region - Western Australia
Which means we learn to persist rather than give up.
And as many a self-development guru will tell us, persistence is power. To achieve great things, whether it is a Phd, a successful business or healthy relationships and communication, it takes persistence.
What is more, through persistence and embracing the challenge we get understand why the effort matters and how much it is worth once we get to a place that literally takes our breath away with its beauty.
Turgen National Park - Mongolia
We cannot exist healthily in constant stress and discomfort without it taking a toll emotionally, psychologically and physically. But most of us spend way too much time shrouded in certainty and comfort.
As Maslow proposed, once we have met our most basic needs, we are left with a driving desire to attain higher levels of purpose and self-actualisation.
2. Stepping out of our comfort zone can give us new perspectives.
The view from the top of Malchin Peak in the north-west Mongolian wilderness has literally brough tears to my eyes each time I have summitted. The view of mountains and snow peaks and glaciers as far as the eyes can see leaves an imprint and physically changes our brain.
These new perspectives are not only physically as we see something we have not seen before and that cannot be seen from anywhere else; but they are also, emotional and symbolic as they open our minds to new possibilities and ideas.
We become able to turn a fear of failing into opportunities for learning
We learn that there are different ways of viewing EVERYTHING.
Kamchatka - Mutnovsky Volcano Hike 2019
3. Stepping out of our comfort zone makes us happy.
This may be for a number of reasons. First, as described above, the overwhelming emotion of beauty can give us a ‘peak experience’, that is, an experience of intense joy that is ‘ meaningful and transformational’.
My first ever solo hike was to the Annapurna basecamp in Nepal. I had decided to do it without a porter or a guide and so I hiked on my own for 10 days. As I approached one of the passes, the mist rose around me covering any view other than the path and nearby vegetation. When I woke up in the morning and looked around at the clear, sharp and breathtaking spectacle of the Himalayan mountain I was overwhelmed with emotion. Something that was intensely joyful and unforgettable.
Himalayas - Nepal
Another reason we feel happy when we step out of our comfort zone, is that we can feel a huge sense of accomplishment that fuels our self-esteem and makes us feel powerful.
On another solo walk, this time in the Turgen National Park in northwest Mongolia, uncertain about the route and distance to my pick up point, I was in a heightened state of awareness as I walked alone over a 3,100 metre pass to a gigantic view of a meandering river that stretched for miles. After more than 35 kms walking, I reached the place and waited, very wary and uncertain. When I saw the driver and his smiling Tuvan wife approach in the distance, I felt an immeasurable sense of achievement and capability.
I had done it! Nobody can take that away.
Lastly, as some post-pandemic research has shown, breaking that feeling of being in a rut can be simply overcome by doing something that is outside our comfort zone. For some people this could be hiking a 4,000 metre mountain in a remote corner of the planet and for others clambering up a 360 metres mount littered with beautiful wildflowers is enough to shake them out of complacency and dullness.
Climbing down East Mt Barren - Fitzgerald River National Park
East Mt Barren - Fitzgerald River National Park - smiles all round.
Stepping out of our comfort zone, in whatever form that takes, fosters a mindset for growth and learning, it opens our minds to new perspectives, and it just makes us happy!
When was the last time you stepped out of your comfort zone?