Stepping out of your Comfort Zone
Hanging around in your comfort zone won’t do you any favours.
We all know about our comfort zone, you know it’s that space you like to hang out where you are in control, you know what’s going to happen, when it will happen, how long it will last, how you’ll feel about it, in fact you probably aren’t going to put in any effort at all because well it’s just quite nice there.
Having the courage to step outside your comfort zone can be really scary, but it is where the magic happens – cheesy I know, but so very true. Think back to the last time you did something that scared you or at least made you feel a little bit nervous, what happened?
Did you feel great afterwards? If you did, go on step outside of your comfort zone again.
If you didn’t, go on step outside your comfort zone again, you learnt something from last time, so make the change, take a deep breath, pull on your big pants and go again!
Stepping out of your comfort zone requires COURAGE, but it is this courage that builds your CONFIDENCE.
The What if’s
We can all think about things we don’t want to do and staying in your comfort zone is far easier than stepping outside, some of this is the fear of “What if”, well what if that what if never actually happens?
When I decided to take the step away from the comfort zone of employment where I’d been for nearly 12 years, I was firmly in my comfort zone and looking back had probably been in it for far too long. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my job, I was earning good money, had a company car, worked from home 2 days a week, had a great reputation in the business and had made a difference, you might even say I left a bit of a legacy behind.
BUT, it wasn’t right to stay I’d become complacent and I wasn’t challenged anymore, I was just going through the motions and it was reflected in my passion and probably my commitment too. It was time to pluck up the courage to take a step outside and leave the comfort zone behind.
I didn’t take the decision to leave lightly, there were so many “What if’s”, what if it doesn’t work, what if I fall flat on my face, what if no-one wants to work with me, what if I don’t make any money, what if I’m not cut out for running a business, what if I post on social media and no-one responds!
Well WHAT IF you just give it a go and WHAT IF it does work – I had to be courageous and have a certain amount of confidence that I could do this.
Stepping out doesn’t need to be massive
I know that’s easy to type and I know that will be a scary step for some and it was quite a significant change, but, stepping out of your comfort zone doesn’t need to be life changing, in fact, I’d always encourage my coaching clients to break things down into small manageable bite size steps.
You might have heard the saying; How do you eat an elephant? The answer is one bite at a time. So, if you are facing something that feels huge, break it down into smaller pieces, tackle each one at a time and don’t forget to celebrate all the wins along the way – they make you feel like you’ve mastered things, and mastery builds your confidence.
People always say to me, well it’s okay for you you’re really confident, truth is that I am – most of the time! Like most people I hang out in my comfort zone but there are things that scare me, things I don’t like doing, things I do that make me worry about what people will think. But sometimes, you have to ACT AS IF you were confident, because if you don’t believe in you how can you expect anyone else to?
You probably know by now that my mantra is ‘Gayle pull up your big pants and do it!’.
This has got me to and through many a situation
Where am I going with this – well if you want to get stuff done and you want to make a change, you HAVE to find the courage to step outside of your comfort zone – challenge yourself to do just 1 thing each week for the next month that scares you or a least makes you feel a little bit nervous.
You’ll be able to recognise when you’re in your comfort zone and how good it can feel to step outside.
Want to know more?
In one of my Confidence Conversations podcast episodes, I chat to Nikie Forster from https://www.curiouslighthouse.co.uk/ about the Comfort Zone.
You can watch it on Youtube:
Or listen on Spotify
The key takeaways from the conversation were:
- Understanding yourself is crucial in effective management and leadership.
- The comfort zone can be both positive and negative, depending on your perspective.
- Stepping outside of the comfort zone requires self-awareness and the ability to make informed decisions.
- The biggest barrier to leaving the comfort zone is the fear of the unknown.
- Individuals should strive to find a balance between comfort and growth in order to achieve personal and professional success.
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