Weekday Wisdom Episode 91
Are you stuck in your comfort zone? In this week’s episode, I share how I’m stretching my comfort zone and how you might stretch yours, as well.
Although I teach this to my clients, I’m still learning this: You can’t stay in your comfort zone if you want to grow.
First, a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered
you will never grow.”
And someone unknown said:
“Life happens just outside your comfort zone.”
Now, I’ve heard a lot of people talk about comfort zones: Do they really exist? Are they really just discomfort zones that you’re comfortable with? And working on my new book, Public Speaking Super Powers, as well as doing something else in my own personal life, has really, really been pushing me outside of my comfort zone.
For example, I’m having to “bug” people. I don’t like to bug people, which is often why I haven’t asked for the sale when I could have. Last week I reached out to some speaker coaches I know asking for endorsements. My goal is to put at least five in the front of my book. However, the book has to go to the designer in the next week or so, so I’m under a tight deadline. A lot of the people I emailed said, “Oh yeah, I’ll do that.” And it’s now a week later and I don’t have them. Now I have to “bug” them.
I was talking this over with my coach over the weekend, and she said, “Don’t think of it as bugging them. Think of it as a gentle reminder. Or that you ‘get to’ do this rather than you ‘have to’ to do this. Say thank you. Assume they’re going to say yes.”
I’ve had to do a lot of clearing on this. But the ultimate thing is I am growing, and I’m growing because I’m pushing myself outside of what is easy for me to do.
Am I going all out? No. There’s one person I would love to get an endorsement from. She has no e-mails. You have to either write her a letter or call her. Well writing a letter isn’t going to get me the testimonial fast enough. And, I’m going to let you know a little secret. I’m mildly phone phobic, so I’m probably not going to work on getting that endorsement, at least not for the book. Maybe from our Web site. We’ll see what happens.
Anyway, what I’m saying here is — and I’ve mentioned this in a previous video where I talked about the several steps to building your courage — that’s what I’m doing. I’m pushing my comfort zone one baby step at a time. And yes, it might not get done quickly. If I really, really needed to get things done more quickly, I would be pushing myself harder. But, at least, I’m pushing myself.
What I’m asking you to do here, is think about:
- Where are you stuck in your comfort zone?
- How is that stopping you from getting to where you want to be?
- How is that stopping you from achieving something you want to achieve?
- Is there a way that you can push that comfort zone boundary a little bit? And then a little bit more?
Take those baby steps to push yourself out of that comfort zone. When you really think about it, once you get out of that comfort zone, you’ll realize that it really wasn’t all that comfortable. It was just what you were used to. And as human beings, it is easier to stay in the uncomfortable known than venture out into the possible comfortable unknown. It’s like we’re stuck in our status quo.
I’m going to say this again.
Think outside the box.
Spread your wings and fly.
Because you are capable of more than you know.
And I’m not just saying that. If you push your comfort zone a little bit at a time you can start approaching and achieving what you are capable of. You will learn that you are able to do things you didn’t think you could do, because you approached them one step at a time. Yes, there are people who can leap right into the deep end of the pool at the beginning. That’s not everybody. In fact I’m pretty sure that’s not most people. So take it one step at a time.
Video Version
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