Ep 16. Andy Molinsky: Reach Beyond Your Comfort Zone
“I wrote a book about stepping outside your comfort zone because I'm an expert at struggling outside my own comfort zone.”
-- Andy Molinsky
Andy Molinsky is a professor at Brandeis University’s International Business School where he helps people develop the insights and courage necessary to act outside their personal and cultural comfort zones. He holds a Ph.D in Organizational Behavior and M.A. in Psychology from Harvard University, and M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University. His latest book is Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge and Build Confidence.
In this conversation, Andy describes the five common psychological obstacles we face when trying to create change and how to overcome them to reach important goals at work and in other parts of life. Stew and Andy talk about how to reach beyond these obstacles through conviction in your beliefs, customization to your specific situation, and clarification of what is realistic. Bonus content: This episode includes a call from a couple of Stew’s radio show listeners -- Tara and her mom, as they were driving back to New York from Washington, D. C. -- who describe how Tara reached beyond her comfort zone to find the courage to lobby Congress on behalf of The Epilepsy Foundation.
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Show Notes (times when new topics start)
7:00 - Psychological barriers to change. After surveying a wide range of people, Andy’s research uncovered the five psychological roadblocks that keep us stuck in our comfort zones.
12:00 - Three keys overcome psychological challenges. They reduce the fear and anxiety that often comes with the anticipation of taking the leap.
25:30 - Change leads to discovery. Stepping outside our comfort zone can lead to the personal discovery that you are more capable of producing change than you previously expected.
29:55 - How one radio listener found the courage to lobby Congress. Stew and Andy took a call from Tara, who overcame her psychological barriers and reached beyond her comfort zone to go to Washington to lobby Congress on behalf of The Epilepsy Foundation.
Forbes recently published an article on Julie Smolyanksy, a past guest of the show, that Stew mentioned at the end of this episode.