Have you ever noticed how much you can achieve, stretch and grow when out of your comfort zone?
From a young age we are constantly being put outside our comfort zones, from starting school, making friends, starting a new job, going to our first conferences; anything that involves a new situation, new people, new skills. And this is amazing for our growth, we are creatures that learn to adapt, think, improve and thrive under pressure. But unfortunately we can become comfortable and complacent with our lives and forget to push those boundaries and throw ourselves in the deep end of a situation.
At first being thrown in the deep end of a situation can seem extremely overwhelming, but we have all done it before and we can do it again. We need to have faith in our own abilities and what we can achieve. Because the sense of self satisfaction that we get out of doing these tasks that we once thought was unachievable for ourselves is amazing, and it pushes us to do it again and again and again, until we turn into that person that we once admired for being able to put themselves into those situations.
A personal story of mine is when I recently started bootcamp at BENton gym. My first day walking into that hall was extremely confronting, I hardly knew anyone, I hadn’t been extremely physically active over the last 12 months, and I didn’t even have suitable foot wear such as joggers. But here I was standing in a hall with 40 other people in my converse. The first week pushed me to my limits, I was waking up every morning battered and sore wondering what I had got myself involved in. Yet I kept going back every night trying to improve my form, improve my strength and calisthenics, not giving up.. I have now been attending the bootcamp for 4 months, usually 4 days a week, and the amount of progress I can see in myself is amazing. I have made a fantastic new group of friends that are like minded and motivated, I am using heavier weights, and running a lot quicker. Its not only helped me physically but mentally also, giving me a sense of achievement and reward.
My point being is that if I never threw myself into this situation (and applied myself) then I never would of grown, I wouldn’t have made new friends and continually impress myself with the capabilities of my own body.
A quote I heard the other day from Steve Harvey, which I loved. “You can play it safe and deal without the cuts and the tears and you can stand on that cliff for life forever safe, but if you don’t jump … your parachute will never open. You’ll never know.”
So get out, don’t become complacent with your own life, push the boundaries, impress yourself. Take that chance with a new career choice, start playing an instrument in a band, travel on your own, start a dance class; who knows what can happen when your outside your comfort zone, the possibilities are endless, and thats exciting. You can grow and adapt and become who you want to become.