Moving children out of their comfort zone is not the easiest thing in the world. It is so easy and comfortable for children to stay in the situation they are in. It is cozy, secure and they don’t have to do anything too challenging. They can stick with what they know and feel safe. However, in life children can’t always stay somewhere where they feel comfortable. They will have to challenge themselves and move away from their safety net during life. Learning to push themselves into situations they may not feel comfortable in and taking a few risks is the only way to have the life they want and it is a life skill to be able to do this.
Many children find it difficult to get out of their comfort zone when it comes to friendships. They worry about what other kids will think of them when they are making friends. However, if they don’t speak up, join in or make that first move to talk to someone new, then nothing will change.
MOVING OUT OF THEIR COMFORT ZONE WITH FRIENDSHIPS
If your child is nervous about leaving their comfort zone when it comes to friendships, encourage them to focus on the end game. Get them to think about what they want to gain and write it down:
- How many friends would they like?
- What kind of friendships are they after?
- How do they want to be perceived by others?
- How can they get to make new friends or make existing ones more established?
- What kind of things can they say to start this process?
Once they have the confidence to speak up, which may take some time, they need to just give it a go and see what happens. (If your child struggles with confidence, check out my other blog posts on building confidence in children).
They need to be themselves and keep on reminding themselves why they are doing something that feels unnatural to them. Daily reminders of their end goal, and having the self-belief that they can do this, will get them to the place they want to be.
