The only way to evolve is to do the things you don’t feel comfortable doing. If there’s no discomfort, there’s no growth. End of story.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that you are built for growth, literally. You are a meaning making, learning, growing machine destined to go where you thought you never could or would.
But nothing comes from nothing. “Is the discomfort (anxiety, terror, frustration, etc) worth it” you might ask? That depends on whether you want change or not, whether or not you’re happy with “your lot”.
Mark Twain had this in mind when he said: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!”
This is true both literally and metaphorically. Playing safe by constantly recommitting to your protective personality patterns will never get you what you want. It’s by deconstructing those defences that your true potential and lustre will be revealed. Of course, our instinct is generally to do the opposite, to run from the cannons rather than toward them.
And there’s your clear choice. Courage or comfort – you can’t have both.