Strong Female Leaders

By Nan Nan Liu-Maffetone | Strong Female Leaders | Reading Time: Five Minutes When you get out of your comfort zone, magic happens. You will learn, grow and develop as a professional and a person, and gain life-changing confidence and opportunities. As terrifying as it feels to enter the unknown, as soon as you do it, you will feel calmer, more natural and more confident. In fact, you just might get addicted to the excitement. However, getting out of one's comfort zone isn't easy for everyone. If you need help, we've got you covered. Scroll down and find tips on how to easily get out of your comfort zone.

1. Find your why.

In his bestselling business book, START WITH WHY, author Simon Sinek encouraged leaders to explain their "why" first before motivating teams to move towards a certain direction. Sinek explained that when people understand and resonate with your "why," they will more likely put forth faith and effort into the "what" and the "how."
You are the CEO of your life. Therefore, every decision you make is an executive decision. In order to motivate yourself to step out of your comfort zone, you must find your "why" first before convincing yourself to take action. If you need help, look back on your life and find what's important to you. Dig deep and find what makes you the most happy. Think outside of yourself, and notice how you can bring happiness to those around you. If you need more help, Sinek's later masterpiece, FIND YOUR WHY, is a great place to start.

2. Show up, be seen, and just do it.

If you are uncomfortable, you are fearful. That little trace of fear can suddenly grow into wild fire if you don't contain it quickly. Some people quit before they even get started because of the knots in their stomach. Don't let that happen to you. When fear is about to take over, focus on taking action. Show up, be seen, and just do it. When you focus on getting going, fear dissipates.

3. Take baby steps and go for the small wins.

While thinking big is great for planning your life, going all out at once isn't a prudent act. Achieving giant goals in an unyielding manner often adds too much pressure, especially if you are not used to being out of your comfort zone. Sometimes, the pressure gets so immense that you become paralyzed.
If you have a mammoth goal, that's honerable. To achieve it, however, try to be practical and break it down into small and manageable pieces. For example, if you want to start a business, don't quit your job and give up a steady paycheck rightaway. Instead, take a class, moonlight on the side or talk with a coach until you feel secure about the future. Not only will taking baby steps start you in the right direction, you will amass the small wins that eventually turn into a big triumph.

4. Formulate a plan, with an exit strategy.

When pursuing somehing new, especially if it is life-changing, knowing what steps to take and when to quit add volume to confidence. You cannot predict the outcome but you can plan for the future. A plan provides a framework, instructions, empowerment, visibility and guidance. And an exist strategy provides security and a realistic view. To take on any challenge, the optimistic dreamer in you must be balanced with a pragmatic business person. When things get out of hand, depending on the situation, break, pivot or pull the plug. You are not quiting the life challenge of getting out of your comfort zone, you are just making time to regain control.

5. Rest and recover.

Often, we push so hard at our pursuits that we forget to take care of ourselves. Sure, working hard at achieving new goals builds confidence. But when we wear ourselves out, we risk turning all that positive energy into depression. When we suffer burn out, we don't realize it until, all of the sudden, we break down and quit.
To avoid serious fatigue, take rest between the hard goings, and then take a break to recover. Like weight lifting, with each repetition, we breakdown the muscle fibers. So in between sets, we would rest to give muscles short breaks so they have enough "umph" to continue until the work plan is finished. But on the next day, we let those muscles recover by not working them again, and that is how muscles grow.
When trying to get out of your comfort zone, don't forget who you are doing it for in the firs place: you. Therefore you should take care of yourself first.

Parting Thoughts

Life is short. If you spend it living within your comfort zone, then are you living at all? If you fear failure, then start small and build up small wins. If you don't know where to start, then start by creating a plan. Look around and find your interests, curiosities and perhaps what you have always wanted to but were afraid to try. Public speaking? Coding? Climbing Everest? With one small act of bravery, you open up the possibility to ignite a lifetime of conquering the impossible, defeating doubts, and living life to the fullest.