Your comfort zone is a set of behaviours, routines, and
actions that is familiar to you. Being
in your comfort zone means that you feel safe and secure. You have routine and there is a sense of familiarity.
There is no risk involved and you have low
levels of stress.
There’s nothing wrong with being in your comfort zone - unless
you want to make a change.
The reason why most of us don’t want to make a change and
step out of our comfort zones is because we’re afraid to fail and we’re afraid
to get hurt. However, staying in your
comfort zone also means that you’re missing out on new experiences and
challenges.
I left my comfort zone
In 2022, I left my comfort zone, a stable job that I was comfortable
in, to start coaching full time. It was scary and if I’m honest with myself it
still is. I still had to meet my
financial responsibilities and leaving a stable income to start my own business
was definitely a stressful and scary decision to make.
And, I stepped out again just last week, when I ran my very
first workshop. I’m an introvert and not
very confident about speaking to groups of people so running a workshop where I
will be talking to a group was way out of my comfort zone.
Lessons from leaving my comfort zone
In the process I have learnt some of the benefits of
stepping out of my comfort zone.
It’s an opportunity to grow. When you do things that scare you, you’re
challenging yourself and you learn what you’re truly capable of. In the process of changing careers, there was
a period of 8 months when I was working both at my last employer and in my coaching
business at the same time. I learnt how
to balance both jobs, and my family life.
I look back now and even though it was very stressful, I see how
resilient I can be.
You learn how to deal with change. When you do something new, you learn what
works and what doesn’t. That helps you to
know what to expect for the next experience.
Running the workshop, I learnt how to best use technology for the
workshop. Even though the workshop didn’t
go as expected, I now know what didn’t work and I can use this knowledge when I
create new workshops.
Trying new things can make you more creative. You learn how to do things differently and
you learn how to make changes quickly.
The workshop was based on a session in my coaching programme and I had
to be creative to coach a group on goal-setting rather than going through the
exercises one-on-one.
It helps you to gain confidence. As you try different things and get it right,
you become more confident in your abilities, and you learn new skills which
will increase your confidence. As I sign
on more clients, my confidence in my own abilities has grown. I now know the best technology to use to for online
workshops, and how to present while seeing the participants on screen.
Tips to help you
If you’re ready to step out of your comfort zone, some tips I
would suggest are:
Start small. You
don’t have to make big changes straight away.
Start with one small action and then build up to bigger steps.
Even though you’re scared, take a deep breath and do it
anyway.
Remember your why.
Remind yourself why you are making a change. What’s not working right now that you need to
change? Why is it important to make a
change?
Focus on the positive rather than the negative. Instead of focusing on what could go wrong,
focus on how your life will be if you do make the change and it does
work out.
Ask yourself why you’re afraid. What scares you about speaking to groups of
people? Is it because you’re not
confident in what you have to say? Do
you have reason to doubt what you have to say?
Ask yourself why to each question at least 5 times to get to the root of
the fear.
Let’s be honest, stepping out of your comfort zone is not
easy – it’s very uncomfortable and scary.
But, if you want to make changes and you want to learn new skills and
about yourself, it’s something that you have to start getting comfortable with.
If you are ready to take the next step to make the
changes you need to make in your life, drop me a message to arrange a no-obligation
call to see if coaching is for you.