In England, there is a commonly used phrase, ‘beat about the bush’ which literally means ‘avoiding the main topic’. However, there is a more accurate expression which explains its historical origin:

“The likely origin of the phrase, ‘beat around the bush’, is derived from early hunting techniques in which unarmed men would walk around the forest beating tree branches and making noise, so as to flush the game from the bush. This allowed the hunters to avoid directly approaching the animals. This technique was most often used in boar and bird hunting and was done as a safety measure due to the razor tusks and the likelihood of a boar charging a hunter. In bird hunting, this was to scare the birds from their cover so that hunters could take them easily. It is possible that the phrase is a shortened version of an old phrase, ‘to beat the bushes for’, which meant someone was seeking something with little effort.”

So it was indeed a kind of preparation for hunters to be secured and felt ready before they start pursuing their goals with not so much effort. Have a look at the bold words. What do you think, what do these words have in common? Yes, they all refer to the attributes of our comfort zones.

Being inside our comfort zone basically means that we don’t need to do so much effort to function in a way as we got used to. We can choose the easiest ways in our lives just to reduce the anxiety which is an inseparable part of building a new coping mechanism, called a habit. This habit is an automated response which we are not really aware of as we have been continuously practicing it for so long without any concentration. And as we always act in the same ways, our next reaction for a similar situation will remain consistent to our learnt behaviour. Breaking an automated habit is stressful but is a must to expand our personal boundaries. Truth is, there are one time actions when we finally gather all of our courage and step out of our prison door. It does, however, not mean that our personal boundaries have been successfully expanded as the ‘beat about the bush effect’ is still part of our personality. That is in fact the chief culprit of not being successful in creating a more productive place as we are still not able to lower the limiting effect of our avoiding personality trait.

Avoidance is a really interesting concept: it basically gives the comfort of defence from a particular negative outcome that would be a potential result of stepping out of our rusty cage. To judge how rusty that cage we have, I have the below question for you:

When was the last time you have learned something new and practiced it long enough to successfully become a new habit?

If the answer to this is: long ago, you may need a serious comfort zone reevaluation. It may look like you are defending yourself from serious consequences with not trying anything new but this in fact hindering your progress in life and so has a limiting effect. This is applicable to relationships as well – the more avoidant you are, the less chance you can form deep and meaningful relationships.

We all gradually need to learn new habits that would expand our current limits. We must tolerate the discomfort for a certain amount of time while a new activity becomes a habit, the uncomfortable feelings are not something that we can escape. The more we allow ourselves to feel uncomfortable, the quicker it will be to form new habits that would become an automatic action and no longer cause us fear.

There is no way to feel 100% ready to do something – we can sacrifice great opportunities if we wait for the perfect moment that will never come. But if we embrace our imperfections and act in spite of our vulnerability, we can achieve the most remarkable things life can offer.