Last week, a few brave pioneers joined me for my first 5 Day Sparkle Challenge. Sorting the tech to set up the challenge was ‘tear your hair out’ hard, selling it direct was excruciating and talking live on video every day terrified me.
The challenge pushed me out of my comfort zone, down the waterfall, across the rapids and flung me onto the river bank of a brand new land. I am not sure if that metaphor works but let’s just say, I didn’t just step out of my comfort zone, I took a giant leap.
I talk about how to step out of your comfort zone in many of my books so really, I have to walk the talk. I don’t want to just write about self-help, I want to experience real life personal development. After all, trying new things leads to growth, and growth is necessary for a fulfilling life. Studies have shown over and over again that successful people make a habit of being uncomfortable.
However, knowing that growth is necessary for a happy and successful life does not make stepping out your comfort zone any easier! Desperately trying to find something to help, I came up with three questions that supported my comfort zone leap. I hope they help you too.
Here are three questions to ask before you step out of your comfort zone…
1) Step Out of Your Comfort Zone Question – What is the Worst That Could Happen?
If you are anything like me, then asking yourself ‘what is the worst that could happen?’ automatically redirects to ‘zombie apocalypse’ every single time. Sure, there is always a slim possibility of a zombie apocalypse, but seriously answering this question is a useful exercise when deciding whether to step out of your comfort zone.
When I answered this question properly, I realized that the worst that could happen was that no one would sign up and I would have to do the challenge by myself. At that stage one or two people had already signed up, so my main fear was dispelled. But even if I did end up running the challenge on my own, I would get practice at performing on live video, plus a chance to ingrain my own sparkle strategies even more firmly into my life.
There was no real downside and, of course, no zombie apocalypse… well, none as at the time of writing.
2) Step Out of Your Comfort Zone Question – Will I Regret It?
This is the ‘rocking chair’ question. Will you regret doing that thing? Often, at the end of our life, it the things that we did NOT do that we regret. As Bronnie Ware’s book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, states, not letting ourselves be happier and not living life true to oneself are two of the top regrets of the dying. Nine times out of ten, the answer to ‘will I regret it?’ will be no.
Asking the ‘will I regret it?’ question made creating and running the 5 Day Sparkle Challenge a no-brainer. I would only regret NOT doing it. In the end, it exceeded all of my expectations – it was simply magical.
3) Step Out of Your Comfort Zone Question – What Will I Learn?
The question ‘what will I learn?’ is, well, comforting when you step out of your comfort zone because you are bound to learn something, even if it is how you respond to complete catastrophic failure (my mind really does go straight to zombie apocalypse!). As my coach says, we are either winning or learning.
When I asked this question about the challenge, I realized I had already learned so much about technical and marketing aspects of selling direct, it had been worth my time and resources to set up the challenge, regardless of the outcome of it.
I can now use my newfound knowledge to create and sell other offerings. As often happens, when you step out of your comfort zone, you realize the world you were hiding from is bigger and more breathtaking than you could ever think possible.
What if You Fly?
When deciding whether to step out of your comfort zone, asking yourself ‘what is the worst that could happen?’, ‘will I regret it?’ and ‘what will I learn?’ helps ease the scary transition.
Don’t settle for mediocrity because you believe anything else is unavailable or inappropriate. Be rebellious. See what you can get away with. Not many people’s opinions matter. So why not? When you go beyond expectations and what you think you are capable of, the world will open up. You will discover there is so much more you can do with your mind, body, skills and talents. You may even compel others to step out their comfort zones too.
“And you ask ‘What if I fall?’
Oh but my darling,
what if you fly?” – Erin Hanson
If you want to join the next 5 Day Sparkle Challenge then subscribe to my sparkle emails to be the first to know when it runs again (the zombie apocalypse not withstanding).
A number of my books talk about how to step out of your comfort zone including:
Hi Julie, stepping out of my comfort zone is something that I have learnt to do a lot in recent years. If we want to be successful at what we do, we must take a deep breath and step forward. Taking that leap of faith is essential to growth. My picture book published in 2016, Frazzled Freya is all about that as a little frill-neck lizard afraid to play in the sun with her desert friends, learns this great lesson in life.
Great article on stepping out of your comfort zone, Julie.
When I’m not sure how something is going to work, I’ve been thinking about it as an experiment. It seems to take the pressure off, somewhat. So far, it’s working.
Thanks again for another great blog post.