There’s nothing as beautiful as seeing the spark in a person’s eyes when they talk about something their passionate about. There’s nothing as depressing as the dull glaze in a person’s eyes when they lack the passion for life and are trapped in their comfort zone. They can keep their “safe spaces” and mediocre life, we want that magic and that freedom.

What we did here is to point out some traps that you may or may not already be in. We also tossed you some real tips that you can actually use to free your damn self and just be freakin’ fantastic.

Living life on repeat

Listen man, it’s 2016 and automation is coming. The robotic reform is coming. And if what you do with your life, at work and beyond, is on repeat then guess what? You’re the first batch to be replaced. Seriously, if all you do each day is go to work, make a sad ass attempt to contribute, sink hours into social media and wax poetic in your minds about your contributions to the world, there are two things you can bet on. Number one, you are not experiencing what life has to offer and number two, you’ll be replaced by a Roomba.

So, what can you do? You need to get out of the repetition and upgrade your shit. Rediscover your job and career with more hunger and passion. Learn new games to play with your kids, become good friends with someone who doesn’t look like you or have the same political views as yourself. Take off with your friends on trip when given the opportunity or heck, even just start with having some fun taking a new route to work or learning to cook rather living on takeout.

Giving too many f*ucks

Remember Kony 2012? It’s a perfect example of the vast amount of f*cks (and not to mention cash) that can easily be milked using a half-ass activism effort. Seriously, it turns out to be a big scam and Kony and his army remain at large. So, why am I saying that giving too many f*cks holds you in a comfort zone trap? It’s because when you give out f*cks left and right like you’re Oprah at Christmas, you trick yourself into a false fulfilment trap. It may make you feel like a big bad social justice warrior by just simply caring or thinking about some random cause that was sold to you, but man, don’t get stuck. The hard truth is it’s not going to improve your life or the life of others. And at the end of the day, you’ll be too drained and exhausted to develop any real experiences or personal growth.

So how do we break free? Mark Manson hits the nail on the head in this post where he explains “that f*cks have to be earned and then invested wisely.” Treat those f*cks like gold and stop giving them away like boxes of raisins on Halloween. Now, it’s not realistic to think you can shut off the way you react to things overnight. To quote some great guru, “it’s a process”. So what? Do what you can. Like how about caring about one less thing a day? Just pick something small, like being okay with it when that driver doesn’t thank you when you let them in your lane. Is it really something to waste one of your valuable f*cks on? No, it is not.

Muzzling your voice

You’ve got to speak up, son. This may seem like a contradiction to what we just wrote but it isn’t. There’s nothing that will keep you trapped in your comfort zone like not speaking up. It’s healthy and important to let your thoughts brew and process, but too many of us overcook our perspective and viewpoints. Take that stuff off of the burner and serve it. Healthy communication is as important to relationships as fresh water is to plants. You need to water that shit on the regular.

If you’re somewhat of an introvert and tend to muzzle your voice, don’t go into panic mode just yet. No one is saying you have to jump in head first. Go back to those baby steps and start with yourself. Find a mirror and take a gander at that good looking mug of yours and tell yourself what you want to accomplish. Do it a hundred times a day if you have to. Eventually you’ll find yourself out of this trap and speaking up with the best of them.

Mistaking vulnerability as a weakness

If the word “uncomfortable” had a lunch buddy its name would be vulnerability. We all have this BS fear of appearing vulnerable and being viewed as a weakling. A good friend once said to me. “If you’re going through a tough time, don’t try to resolve everything on your own. You never know which of your friends has the skills or resources to solve your problem”. I really loved his advice and it has personally served me well.

The thought of stepping out of your comfort zone and admitting to the world and your peers that you’re not “perfect” and that you don’t have all your shit together isn’t easy, but it’s so liberating. Here’s a thought to catch, as Brene Brown says in this article, “vulnerability is the core, the heart, the center of meaningful human experiences,”. Meaning if you don’t face your fear you cheat yourself of getting out of the comfort zone trap we’re talking about. The long and short of it, you need to realize that you and your problems aren’t all that special. You need to balls up and start Daring frickin’ Greatly.

Forgetting about option c

Hey man, you know that you’re not a computer right? Then why is that you’re living a binary life. I saved the trickiest comfort zone trap for last and that’s not coming up with option C. Whoa, what? Option C? Yes! This one is really easy to understand and solve. Contrary to what every jackass out there might have you believe there’s more than two options to all your decisions. We’re living in the age of information and yet most of ya’ll still get your arm twisted into choosing from just one of the couple of options already crafted for you. That’s some real bullshit and you know it. Think outside of the box, do your research, talk to people and do your best to come up with an alternate solution.

Here are some examples of having an option C for your consideration:
A) Hillary,                     B) Trump,                     C) Puppy (As in, screw all this BS, I’m getting me a Beagle)

A) Soda,                         B) Energy Drink,     C) Coffee (As in, I can do without the sugar and calories bro)

If you let yourself consider at least one extra option in all your decision making it may elevate you from your comfort zone faster than we can say 2016.

If you’ve made it this far it’s obvious you want to get out of your comfort zone.  So, get up and go do something exciting, something surprising, something that scares the crap out you.  Go out there and LIVE because you know this won’t last forever.