Everybody has probably heard of The Comfort Zone. This is where we are when we are only doing things that we already know. It’s a place that’s warm and comfortable, where we can feel at ease because we always know exactly what’s coming. It is, however, not a place where a lot of development happens. 

In relation to your English, your ‘Comfort Zone’ may be that you try to speak it as little as possible. When you have meetings in English, you let your colleague explain things while you lean back and hope that nobody asks you a question.

Being in your Comfort Zone feels safe, but only as long as you don’t have to speak.

If you want to develop or improve, you have to push out a little, into what we call The Growth Zone. This is where we feel challenged, curious and intrigued. Things are a little hard, we might get headaches and sore muscles here sometimes but we can see progress and feel positive most of the time. 

So for your English, the Growth Zone is when you are developing your active language skills and make progress. It’s where we push ourselves a little and get rewarded with seeing our efforts pay off. With each conversation, you feel more confident, and each time you open your mouth, it feels easier and more fun.

The Growth Zone is the ideal place for learning.

We can also —and this is the part that is often left out— push too far, however, into the so-called the Danger Zone. This is where, instead of you deciding to take a big leap and jump into the cold water, somebody pushes you in. It’s a place where you can get scared, where you lose trust in the people around you, where you might even get traumatised. Positive development is impossible in The Danger Zone, and I find it important to keep in mind that while it’s true that we need to push a little to get ahead, we should never push too hard. 

What this means for your English is that some things may be “too much, too fast”.

If you have just started working on your English actively and your boss is trying to push you to give a big presentation in English, you have every right to say no. It’s great to be ambitious and it’s definitely possible to make progress quickly if you find the right methods for you personally. But only you can know what’s a positive, fun challenge and what on the other hand will send you into a panic response. So don’t be afraid to say “I’m not ready yet” and then keep working, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Your Comfort Zone will grow and soon, things that scared you will become perfectly alright!

Listen to your instincts and stay in your Growth Zone.

Read more: How to perform confidently (even when you’re not).