Getting OUT of Your Comfort Zone!
For me, stepping out of my comfort zone comes as an easy topic. No, it’s not what you’re thinking. I’m not looking for it, it certainly isn’t painless, and I am no way even close to mastering the art of living outside it.
You see, it never fails that no matter what I am doing in my life I always seem to get nudged, pulled and down right shoved right outside my comfort zone.
In my life to date, there seems to never be a month that goes by, or maybe even a week, that I don’t in some aspect of my life or business have to face something that makes me uncomfortable, that gives me anxiety, and that makes me question if I should be doing it at all.
In reality, it’s how I’ve lived my entire life.
A week ago I was faced with an unexpected choice. I either let go of a podcast I had grown to love, or I continue on producing it alone.
The two choices were staring me right in the face.
Choice one – The Simple Route: I put everything down, walk away, and caulk it up as a great 4 month run. A run full of new adventures, lots of great laughs, many interesting interviews where I met some wonderful people, and an incredible over all experience. No harm done, nothing lost, and I could just continue on with business as usual.
I say this is simple because it is. It’s quick, to the point and closes everything off……. Well, almost everything.
You see, simple doesn’t mean easy.
Easy would be having no reservations about a decision I make. Easy means never questioning if people would be losing out. Easy would not be feeling like I’m dishonoring my purpose and my passion. Easy is carrying on with the thousand other things that I would now have more time for and never second guess myself. Easy would be knowing I wasn’t giving up on something I love.
But easy has never been me. Look at my track record…..
As a child, in my teens, and right on into adulthood I’ve never chosen easy. I would just have enough time to catch my footing from one comfort zone jump before another cliff showed up before me. From switching schools at 14, getting pregnant at 19, facing cancer at 26, being on my own again at 30 and right on up to this moment right now. Facing things I’m not anywhere near ready for just keeps happening over and over again.
Choice one was never an option.
So I picked choice two – Exit The Comfort Zone Route: Continue to create, and produce the podcast on my own.
Sounds simple enough right?
For some people yes! For me, not entirely.
You see as a co-host I always had a great partner to help carry the conversation, to deliver the topic, to brainstorm what to talk about, and to handle the technical aspect of it. Sure, I was set with the marketing, I was good at writing up the shows, but the things I hadn’t learned were now on my plate to master and perfect in less than a week.
After years of living outside my comfort zone I have grown accustom to facing a situation and knowing how to approach it. Whenever I’m faced with an obstacle I’ve learned to ask myself three questions.
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Am I honestly happy with where I am at right now?
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What will I get out of moving forward out of my comfort zone?
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Will it be worth it, even if it fails?
So that’s just what I did. I took an honest look at my life and what it would mean to continue on. I looked at why I started the podcast to begin with, and I looked at what was the worst that could happen.
No matter what you’re facing in life it’s never easy to change. It’s never enjoyable to step out of your comfort zone, and it’s certainly not easy to fail.
But what I’ve learned over the year, over many failings, over many uncomfortable situations, and over numerous challenges is that we NEED these pushes. We need these shoves. We need to be removed from our comfort bubble and placed in situations that challenge us, that teach us, that encourage us to grow.
Growth is a necessity, it’s a vital part of life.
Growth allows you to continue to move forward and become the person you were always meant to be.
Leaving our comfort zone is a fact of life, but it doesn’t have to stop you in your tracks. When you’re faced with a situation, no matter what it is, you need to remember all the past times you accomplished the jump.
Podcasting alone is not anything near what I’ve faced in the past or what you are probably facing now. I share my story to show you that no matter how little or how big your comfort zone jump is there are things you can do to soften the landing.
