This last year I pushed myself harder than I have ever pushed myself before, way out of my comfort zone! I am definitely an introvert and a home body. But, last year I pushed myself to start this blog, partner with my favorite hair company, and just pushed myself in general to be a better person!
I talked about starting a blog for years and years! Probably three years! Every time I went to do it though, I chickened out and let fear keep me from doing it. Finally, I told myself it was time and I was doing it. So, after a glass of wine and the kids were in bed, I pulled the trigger and started my blog. I am so glad I did because this blog has been an amazing experience and something that I really love to do! I still have to push myself out of my comfort zone to promote my blog on social media but it’s definitely getting easier!
Around the same time I decided to partner with my absolute favorite hair care brand, Monat! I had been using their products for about a year and a half and had seen other women partner with them but I had always thought, I can’t do what they do! Then they announced they were also going to sell skincare and I told myself, enough of being afraid! You’re doing this! Has it been a learning experience? Yes, but it’s been so worth it!
Now, I don’t tell you all this in hopes you’ll run out and start a blog and join Monat, unless that’s what you want to do! What I am trying to tell you, that your life will change in so many positive ways, when you get out of your own way and out of your comfort zone! I know if a shy, introverted person like myself can get out of her own way, you can do it too!
This life was not meant to be ordinary! When we start to get comfortable, we start to get lazy. We stop doing things that set our soul on fire. I am someone who always needs to be doing something. So once I finished college, I got an accounting job. Then, I did what I was comfortable with, I went back to school to get my masters degree in accounting. Once I got my masters degree, the most logical thing for me to do would have been to study and get my CPA. I was on the path to do just that, and then I started questioning if that was really something I wanted to do. Sure, it would have been the comfortable path, but it didn’t excite me! That’s when I started this blog and went in a totally different direction.
Why do people insist on staying in their comfort zone? Fear! The fear of looking stupid, the fear of it not working out, the fear of sucking at something, the fear of being vulnerable, fear is what always holds us in our comfort zone.
In my experience, the way to overcome that fear is to start doing personal development and changing your mindset. That voice inside your head that says, “You are going to fail!” needs to be silenced! That is your ego getting in the way of you having the life you want! I did a blog post a little bit ago about personal development (read it here!) and I stated that if you aren’t growing, you’re dying! This also applies to getting out of your comfort zone. If you are sitting in your comfort zone you aren’t growing, and if you aren’t growing, you’re dying!
So how does one go about getting out of their comfort zone? I know from my story above it seems like I just jumped into everything all at once. I did make some big leaps but I made baby steps first. I started with personal development and working on my mindset. The last step was something that scared the crap out of me and really moved me forward.
Personal Development
This is anything that is going to help you grow. Pick up some books, listen to podcasts that inspire you, look for inspiring quotes, practice self-care, literally anything that is going to grow yourself. Once again, check out my blog post on personal development for some additional information!
Mindset
I touched on mindset in my personal development post as well because they are so closely intertwined. When it comes to mindset, positive is the direction you want to go!! Mindset work can be difficult at first but it does get easier with time. I started with literally reversing any negative thoughts that came into my mind. At first, this was hard and took time. I had to literally think about what I was always thinking about! Also, instead of thinking “Why is this happening to me?” think “What can I learn from this?” This gets rid of the pity party in your head and allows you to grow from your experiences!
Scared List
Make a list of everything that scares you and would push you out of your comfort zone, but also excites you. This can be things as simple as going to the movies by yourself or something big like starting a business! The point of this is to list all the things you would like to do with your life but you’re scared to do it. This is the list I made that inspired me to start this blog and start my business with Monat! The best part about this list is that it is forever changing. One day you might put on there that you want to start a blog and then after you start tackling items on your list you might realize you don’t really want to start a blog. On my list I had that I wanted to get a new accounting job and after I tackled a few things and did some personal development/ mindset work, I realized that’s not what I wanted, what I wanted was more freedom!
I would encourage all three of these items to be done together because more often then not, they feed off each other. As you go through personal development and mindset work, you’ll realize more things you want to achieve and want to add to your scared list. Some things scare you so much you don’t even want to write them down at first!
If you have no idea where to start at all, I would suggest going onto Pinterest and searching for some ideas on how to step outside your comfort zone. They have some really great suggestions on there! If you check out my self-care board you’ll find some that I have already pinned!
I hope you have found this post helpful and I really hope you start living outside your comfort zone!