A person’s “comfort zone” is called that for a reason: It’s comfortable and safe. However, your comfort zone can also be a place of stagnation — one that keeps you from seizing opportunities for growth, just because it involves something unfamiliar.

Coaches continually push their clients to explore the unfamiliar, whether that means reaching out to new professional contacts, starting a passion project they’ve been putting off, or simply taking a small risk that could push them toward their goals. However, it can often be difficult to change one’s mindset about risk versus reward, especially if they take refuge in familiarity. That’s why we asked 13 Forbes Coaches Council members to weigh in on how a person can mentally help themselves step out of their comfort zones.

1. Study Your Physical Manifestations Of Fear 

When was the last time you felt uncomfortable? What did it feel like? Where did you feel it in your body? Was it in your chest? Your stomach? By getting clear on how discomfort manifests in your body, it makes it easier to notice when you are out of your comfort zone. It allows you put yourself in situations that make you a bit uncomfortable and open you up to growth. – Aaron Levy, Raise The Bar Consulting

2. Tell Yourself, ‘I Am Fearless’ 

Disempowering thought habits keep us in our comfort zones. Replacing those thoughts with empowering ones help us take a new perspective and move to action. Repeating the mantra, “I am fearless” over and over again and envisioning yourself successfully doing or achieving what you fear can help you reprogram your disempowering thought habit and move forward. – Janet Ioli, Janet Ioli International

3. Recognize Your Reactive Thoughts And Tack A New, Positive Thought Onto Them 

Piggyback a new thought pattern onto a knee-jerk response. For example, if you’re typically offended by negative feedback at work, associate that feedback as constructive advice from someone who helps you improve. When you feel your initial response is to reject, deny or balk at feedback, stop for a moment and imagine that person is handing you a gift for you to achieve your fullest potential. – Beth Kuhel, Get Hired, LLC

4. Look Up And Around You 

As we get older, we see less and less of what’s really around us. We create quick references to things and file them away in our brains as “familiar.” I ask my clients to observe the faces of the people they pass by. I tell them to look up at the buildings and observe details that surround them and consider the beauty they see. Many loved this exercise because it shifts something inside them. – Karyn Gallant, Gallant Consulting Group

5. Revisit Your Greatest Accomplishments 

Accomplishments are often made because of courage. Stepping forward in faith and looking fear in the eye isn’t easy, but it helps us realize what we are truly made of. When we’re stuck in comfort, familiarity is actually our frenemy: A friend we rely on, yet who also keeps us beneath our highest potential. By revisiting our greatest successes, we remember that courage is what got us there. – Tonyalynne Wildhaber, The Courage Practice