When was the last time you did something that made you feel
a bit uncomfortable? The last time you had to force yourself to do something
that you weren’t sure about? When was the last time you really put yourself out
of your comfort zone?
My motto for this year has been ‘get out of your comfort
zone’, and I can honestly say that by following this piece of advice I’ve already
made huge progress this year.
Why get out of your
comfort zone?
Think of the people you aspire to be like. Think about the
people who inspire you such as Sir Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey and
Martin Luther King. They all have at least one thing in common, and that is
they weren’t scared to get out of their comfort zone.
Within your comfort zone are the things you are comfortable
doing now. The habitual tasks which you’ve embedded as normality and can
undertake day to day without any concern. Quite often it’s these things that
keep us in the same job, the same position, the same house and the same
lifestyle our entire lives. Now these tasks may have once felt out of your
comfort zone too. Perhaps in starting your new job you were initially really anxious
and had to push yourself before you reached the comfortable position you’re in
now. And that’s the beauty of it. The things you aren’t comfortable doing only
stay uncomfortable for a certain amount of time. If you embrace discomfort and
work hard to beat it, then in no time you will have overcome the task you found
uncomfortable and it’s now something you’re comfortable and confident doing.
If you continue to seek to get out of your comfort zone and
partake in more and more tasks that let you do just that, then you gradually strengthen
yourself and your mind to be capable of anything.
Applying it to your
life
In my own life, I use the feeling of discomfort as something
to motivate me and drive me to succeed. If ever there’s something I’m not sure
about or begin to have self-doubt about I see it as a challenge and strive to
achieve it.
Let’s use a few examples from my year. Firstly, one of my
goals this year is to be more active, and so as part of that I go running at
least twice a week. Now running is an excellent way to get out of your comfort
zone, as you quite frequently have to break through the desire to stop or slow
down. Usually I get up at 06:30 on a Saturday morning and go for a run, and I
remember one Saturday I awoke, looked out of my window to see the dark, cold,
sleeting weather outside and a huge temptation came over me to stay in bed and
not go running. After all, I’d already been once that week. But as soon as I
started to talk myself out of it, I could suddenly hear my motto screaming deep
inside of me telling me to embrace discomfort and so I did, I went for my run
and in fact ran one of my most fulfilling runs to date.
Secondly, I’m very passionate about wanting to make my
difference in the world and helping inspire others to live their lives to the
full and make their difference too. As part of this I set myself a goal to
speak at an event by the end of the year about it. I was quite happy to leave
this as a goal on the horizon and I was going to focus on completing it at the
end of the year. It seemed difficult to do now, and I knew it would make me
uncomfortable. But after several sessions with my business coach Dan Kirby (of
Coaching Your Success www.coachingyoursuccess.co.uk)
and the decision to apply my motto, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and
arrange the event much sooner. If you’re living in London/Essex you can attend
this free event on 18th April in Southend to hear myself and two
other great speakers discuss what it takes to Make Your Difference. For more
information and to book tickets visit www.makeyourdifference.eventbrite.co.uk
Finally, by not being afraid to get out of my comfort zone I’ve
created so many more opportunities for myself this year. I’ve not been afraid
to put myself out there to speak to people or seize chances that I ordinarily wouldn’t,
and as a result I’ve been lucky enough to speak to some fantastic people and
have a lot of exciting plans lined up which you’ll hear all about over the next
couple of months.
Sometimes if you think about something too long it can fill
you with self-doubt where you begin to talk yourself out of doing it. I say get
used to saying “yes”. If it’s something you want to do and you’re just unsure if
you can do it, THEN DO IT. Because you can
do it.
As soon as I start to feel self-doubt and the feeling of
discomfort creeping in I think back to the people who inspire me the most such
as Sir Richard Branson and imagine him in the same position and wonder if he
would let this self-doubt stop him achieving what he wants. Of course he wouldn’t!
If he did then Virgin would never have been founded and we wouldn’t know of Mr
Branson (as he’d be known). He certainly wouldn’t be changing the world in the
way he is today.
If you want to Make Your Difference in the world, you must first learn to
embrace discomfort. It is only then that you can focus on your goals and your
desires and not be afraid to take the opportunities required to achieve them. It’s
only then that you can truly reach your full potential and make the most of
every ounce of your being. As humans we have endless potential, and it’s our
self-doubt and fear of discomfort that often prevent us from reaching it. So
don’t fear discomfort. Embrace it. Make Your Difference!
