Want Success: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Want Success: Step Out of Your Comfort Zone lifestyleanytime.com.au/want-success-step-out-of-your-comfort-zone/ Angie Emde

January 15, 2018

To start with what is success. Success is different for everyone, so I am not going to define it here, however, the only way to progress forward towards your picture of success is to step out of your comfort zone.

What is comfort zone?

The Merriam-Webster dictionary states ‘that comfort zone means the range within which one is comfortable’ and a further meaning is’ the level at which one functions with ease and familiarity’. The Cambridge dictionary defines comfort zone as ‘a situation in which you feel comfortable and in which your ability and determination are not being tested’.

Looking at the above comfort zone meanings there will be times that everyone at some time has stepped out of their comfort zone. As a child, there are many occasions in which our limits are tested and pushed. The first time you put your hand up in class. The first time you read aloud in class, the first time you do a presentation.

I’ve always had a fear of public speaking and would seldom put up my hand up in class to answer a question or to ask a question. As a child I had a fear; a fear of being judged, judged for asking the wrong questions, judged for getting the answer wrong. This fear of public speaking I carried with me from a shy child into adulthood. As an adult there too has been numerous times I’ve sat in a meeting or a class waiting and hoping someone would ask the burning question I had.

Have you had this feeling too?

This fear of speaking up was holding me back. I knew I needed to overcome this obstacle, step into unfamiliarity, be uncomfortable’.

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Ask yourself ‘Are you the person you need to be in order to achieve your goals?

This question I asked myself and knew that I needed to change I needed to become a person who is prepared to push through challenges, ask questions and not exchange what I want for what is easiest.

Stopping limiting beliefs and pushing through fear takes courage. Many people stay on the spot, stay in the safe zone, looking at the outer circle with a burning desire to push through the barrier and step outside the comfort zone. To want success and create a better life takes courage, it takes mental strength and willpower.

Create your life, step out of your comfort zone with a few mental tricks.

Remember your successes Some of the best things happen outside of your comfort zone. Draw on times of success, remember a time where you have stepped through the barrier to success. Remember how it felt, visualize that success. Use that success to propell you forward, to help you break through your comfort zone.

Be your own mentor What would a mentor advise? Be your own mentor and ask yourself questions; ‘What is the worst that could happen? What is the best that could happen? Would others benefit from it?

Would I benefit from it? Why am I limiting myself? What is holding me back?

By being your own mentor and asking yourself questions you elevate your thinking, gain clarity and self-empowerment to step out of your comfort zone into new horizons.

Take incremental steps On a daily basis take incremental steps towards your success. Small daily steps can lead to big changes. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare, slowly one step at a time saw the tortoise gets to the finish line.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone

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This is the system I used to speak up more often in meetings or more preciously on webinars.

I mentally remembered the steps in the book ‘Five Second Rule’ by Mel Robbins and said to myself ‘5,4,3,2,1 and that was it my hand was up and I was speaking on the webinar.

Daunting as this may sound, sharing knowledge, asking questions is part of the learning experience, part of personal growth and a great way to develop skills to as you design your life.

Personal development Personal development is key to stepping outside your comfort zone. Read books, listen to audios, listen to how others have overcome their challenges. There are so many places today to learn skills to raise one’s value, success and step out of the comfort zone.

Lean into fear, face challenges and step into your comfort zone. Life begins at the end of the comfort zone. Create your life.

Have a great day.

Angie Emde www.lifestyleanytime.com.au

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