The problem with comfort. A year or so ago I started meditating. I had always dismissed the practice as some mystical nonsense and never gave it a chance. I later read about some of it’s benefits and scientific studies about it and decided to give it a chance.

I started slowly with 3 minute sessions that were extremely difficult for me, it’s amazing how uncomfortable it is to be alone with your thoughts some times. I have always “needed” some sort of background noise at all times, slept with the radio or TV on and always carried a portable music player of some kind. Silence has always made me uncomfortable so that was more of a challenge than I expected.

Eventually I was able to move on to 5 minute sessions and finally settled with 10 minute sessions. I currently have a 388 day streak in Headspace, but that’s not really reflective of how I have been doing the practice for the past few weeks.

I got too comfortable. I decided that spending the 10 minutes in the morning was no longer necessary, I thought I maybe didn’t need it anymore at all, but decided to move the meditation to right before bed. I technically kept meditating every day but not really, because I would fall asleep before finishing it. It became background noise.

Coincidentally, I’ve been experiencing unusual anxiety for the past couple of weeks and it took me many days to put two and two together and realize that the increased anxiety was related to my half-assed pseudo meditation.

I got too comfortable and took the benefits of consistency and mindfulness for granted, and have been paying the price for weeks. After returning to my daily proper morning meditation sessions, it has been night and day. I no longer have the augmented anxiety that I was experiencing.

The comfort zone is dangerous and it can make you dismiss and underestimate the actual practices and habits that got you there, then it can set you back a few steps. It is a lesson to be learned many times.

The comfort zone trap

Getting comfortable is the enemy of growth. When things are going well, when you’re feeling good, when life seems manageable, that’s exactly when you’re most vulnerable to letting your guard down.

The comfort zone makes you forget the struggle. You forget how hard it was to build the habits that are now serving you. You forget the discipline it took to get where you are. You forget that your current state of well-being is the result of consistent effort.

Comfort breeds complacency. When you’re comfortable, you start to think you don’t need the practices that got you there. You start to believe you’ve “arrived” and can relax your standards.

The comfort zone is a false sense of security. It makes you think you’re safe when you’re actually at your most vulnerable. It’s like standing on thin ice and thinking it’s solid ground.

Comfort makes you dismiss the very tools that created your comfort. You start to think the meditation, exercise, healthy eating, or whatever practices you’ve built are no longer necessary because you’re feeling good.

The comfort zone is a trap that resets your progress. When you abandon the practices that got you comfortable, you slowly slide back to where you started, often without realizing it’s happening.

The meditation lesson

Meditation taught me about the comfort zone in a profound way. Starting with 3-minute sessions was incredibly difficult. Sitting in silence, being alone with my thoughts, was uncomfortable and challenging.

The discomfort was the point. The struggle to sit still, to quiet my mind, to be present, was exactly what made the practice valuable. It was training my mind to handle discomfort and uncertainty.

Progress came through consistent effort. Moving from 3 minutes to 5 minutes to 10 minutes required daily discipline. Each step forward was earned through persistence and practice.

The benefits were cumulative and subtle. I didn’t notice the anxiety reduction, the improved focus, the better emotional regulation immediately. These benefits built up over time through consistent practice.

Getting comfortable made me forget the struggle. After 388 days, meditation had become a habit, and I started to take it for granted. I forgot how difficult it was to start and how valuable the practice had become.

I made the classic mistake of moving the goalposts. Instead of maintaining the practice that was working, I decided to “optimize” it by moving it to bedtime, which turned it into background noise.

The consequences were immediate and clear. The anxiety returned, the focus diminished, the emotional regulation suffered. The connection between abandoning the practice and the return of symptoms was undeniable.

Why we abandon what works

We get bored with consistency. The same practices, day after day, can feel monotonous. We crave novelty and excitement, even when the routine is serving us well.

We confuse comfort with mastery. When something becomes easy or routine, we think we’ve mastered it and no longer need to practice it. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of how habits work.

We underestimate the cumulative effect. We don’t see the daily benefits of our practices, so we think they’re not working. We forget that the benefits are often subtle and build over time.

We fall for the optimization trap. We think we can make our practices more efficient or better, when often the simple, consistent version is the most effective.

We let external circumstances dictate our practices. We change our routines based on convenience, mood, or other factors, rather than maintaining the practices that serve us.

We forget that maintenance requires effort. We think that once we’ve built a habit, it will maintain itself. But all habits require ongoing attention and effort to sustain.

The cost of getting comfortable

You lose the benefits you worked hard to earn. When you abandon the practices that got you comfortable, you lose the very benefits that made you comfortable in the first place.

You create unnecessary suffering. The anxiety, stress, and other negative symptoms that return when you abandon your practices are entirely preventable.

You waste time and energy. You have to rebuild the habits and practices you let slide, which takes more effort than maintaining them would have.

You undermine your confidence. When you see yourself abandoning practices that work, it can affect your belief in your ability to maintain positive changes.

You create a negative feedback loop. The more you abandon practices, the worse you feel, which makes it harder to restart them, creating a downward spiral.

You miss opportunities for growth. When you’re comfortable, that’s often the best time to push yourself further, not to relax your standards.

Breaking the comfort zone cycle

Recognize the pattern. The first step is to become aware of when you’re getting too comfortable and starting to abandon the practices that serve you.

Maintain your practices even when you don’t feel like you need them. This is the key insight: the practices that got you comfortable are the same practices that keep you comfortable.

Don’t optimize what’s working. If your current routine is serving you well, resist the urge to change it. Simple and consistent is often better than complex and optimized.

Track the benefits. Keep a record of how your practices affect your well-being. This helps you see the connection between maintaining practices and feeling good.

Create accountability. Share your practices with others or create systems that make it harder to abandon them when you get comfortable.

Embrace the discomfort. Remember that some discomfort is necessary for growth. The practices that challenge you are often the ones that serve you best.

The mindset shift

Comfort is not the goal. The goal is not to be comfortable all the time, but to be able to handle discomfort and uncertainty with grace and resilience.

Maintenance is as important as building. Once you’ve built beneficial habits, maintaining them requires ongoing attention and effort.

Consistency beats optimization. A simple practice done consistently is more valuable than a complex practice done occasionally.

Trust the process. The practices that got you where you are are the same practices that will keep you there and help you grow further.

Be patient with yourself. When you slip up and abandon your practices, don’t beat yourself up. Simply recognize the pattern and return to what works.

Celebrate the return. When you restart your practices and feel the benefits returning, acknowledge and celebrate this. It reinforces the importance of maintaining your habits.

Practical strategies for staying on track

Set reminders for yourself. Use your phone, calendar, or other tools to remind yourself of the importance of maintaining your practices.

Create visual cues. Put reminders in your environment that help you remember to maintain your practices even when you’re feeling comfortable.

Review your progress regularly. Take time to reflect on how your practices are serving you and the consequences of abandoning them.

Connect with others. Find people who share your practices and can help you stay accountable when you’re tempted to let things slide.

Keep a practice journal. Record your practices and how they affect your well-being. This creates a clear record of cause and effect.

Plan for comfort. When you’re feeling good and comfortable, that’s the time to strengthen your commitment to your practices, not relax it.

The bottom line

The comfort zone is a trap. Getting comfortable can make you abandon the very practices that got you comfortable in the first place.

Maintenance requires effort. Even the most beneficial habits require ongoing attention and effort to maintain. They don’t maintain themselves.

Consistency beats optimization. A simple practice done consistently is more valuable than a complex practice done occasionally.

Trust the process. The practices that got you where you are are the same practices that will keep you there and help you grow further.

Don’t let comfort be your downfall. When you’re feeling good, that’s exactly when you need to maintain your practices most diligently.

The lesson of meditation applies to everything. Whether it’s exercise, healthy eating, reading, or any other beneficial practice, the same principles apply: maintain what works, even when you think you don’t need it.

Comfort is not the enemy, but getting too comfortable is. Stay vigilant, maintain your practices, and remember that the habits that got you comfortable are the same habits that will keep you comfortable and help you grow.

The comfort zone is dangerous, but awareness is your protection. Recognize the pattern, maintain your practices, and trust that the effort is worth it.