Tips to stepping outside your comfort zone.

Comfort zones vary from person to person. But one thing I promise is that we all have our limits. While someone may seem extremely comfortable and charismatic in any setting, always knowing the perfect thing to say. Doesn't mean that they just have a better comfort zone. These are the people that have learned to live outside their comfort zone and challenge themselves day in and day out.

Big question is, how do we identify out comfort zone and then step outside of it. Comfort zones can be fluid. Often confused with complacency. When in reality comfort zones allow us just that, comfort. When we are in our comfort zone things come natural. We don't have to act, think or work hard. Not intending that those living within the comfort zone are lazy, they just haven't found a way to jump outside of it and push themselves. Read on for tips to recognize your comfort zone and steps to get outside of it and live your life to the fullest!

1 Self-Reflection

Anytime you want to make a change you should first start with self-reflection. What is the current situation and what change do you desire. Stepping out of one's comfort zone requires a lot of self-reflection to identify the true footholds that are not allowing you to take the chance or risk. Once you identify them, then you can make an actionable plan to overcome them and achieve your goals.

2 Goal setting

After self-reflection it is important to take what you have learned about yourself and use that to set tangible goals with measurable progress. Simply writing down your goals and a plan of how you will achieve them goes a very long way in helping to ensure you are successful. Some of the best coaches out there will tell you, if you want it to happen, write it down.

Goal setting is so important we have developed a FREE planner geared specifically at helping you set and plan for your goals. Check it out here.

3 Be kind to yourself

This one is pretty self-explanatory, we all tend to be our own worst critic. With that, we need to remember to be kind to ourselves. Have you ever heard the saying "You don't know what you don't know"? Education, growth, change they are all a process and take time. That is when you must be patient with yourself. Take breaks when needed, and push through when able. Also know, it's totally okay to be bad at something when you first start. Everything takes time and practice.

4 Find comfort in the uncomfortable

Have you ever been asked to give a presentation or speak in front of an audience and instead of feeling excitement your facing down the barrel of unavoidable dread? Something that should be seen as a compliment, flattery what have you. But instead there you stand frozen, concerned that you will make a fool of yourself and everyone will "figure you out". If this is you I encourage you to read some of our other posts regarding Imposter Syndrome and Public Speaking.

Overall, truth is, you could go up on that stage and completely bomb it. But you will always be your own worst critic. After the speech, pitch, or lecture, the audience will move on hopefully taking a piece of your information. But honestly they won't necessarily recall your initially shaky voice or sweaty palms and hopefully at the end of that speech you will have realized its not so bad. Gained confidence, realized that you reached even the smallest of steps in improving yourself, in some way shape or form. That. That is how one finds comfort in the uncomfortable.

5 Face your fears head on

I am sure we've all heard the saying you have to face your fears. Whether it was your brother saying it while holding a spider over your head or your mom or dad saying it as you prepare to jump in the pool for the first time. No amount of preparation or studying can truly help you in a situation that increases your heart rate and causes sweaty palms. All the preparation in the world will help you to still successfully complete the task. However, those feelings are still going to arise. Facing your fears allows you to normalize them. Understand what triggers them, how they occur and what you expect or do with them. Essentially, you want to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

6 Understand that failure is okay

THIS. This is the main component that we all struggle with. Myself included, as a perfectionist by nature this is something I have and always will struggle with. But you know what, I can recognize that and take steps to ensure that when I do fail, I am kind to myself and I rebuild to try again.

Failure is uncomfortable. Failure is scary. But the reality, without failure we would have nothing. Nobody learned how to walk the first time they stood up, we all fell flat on our faces as a child. Jeff Bezos one of the richest men in the world. When he started Amazon it was a bookstore. Now, after numerous failed ideas it is one of the top e-commerce platforms in the world.

Conclusion

All together just remember, stepping out of your comfort zone will take a lot of work on your part. But what you will find once you are there is insurmountable. Be kind to yourself and remember to focus on progress over perfection.