LIFE OUTSIDE MY COMFORT ZONE!!!

Hey guys,

Happy weekend. I hope you've enjoyed your weekend so far? Mine has been a well rested one. I really needed that rest cuz the stress from work on Friday wasn't even taking it easy on me at all, it knocked me out completely. I am glad I feel better now and I can attempt to start getting ready for the new week.

Sometime this year, I did a bit of self analysis and discovered that I have been growing but actually not growing. How do I mean? Growth begins when life begins and life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Yes I have been growing physically, moving from one stage of life to the other but I haven’t been growing because literally almost all my growth and experiences have happened within my comfort zone.

I am usually not one who loves to go out there, make my voice or opinion heard, try new things or take any sort of risk for the fear of things going wrong or not being good at a particular task. I am one who loves her bed, loves working with and taking her time, loves her leisure, freedom, food, sticking to daily routines, sticking to the known and keeping her opinions to herself. I am also one who tends to think about an Idea, then think about it a little too much (like how do I start, how do I go about it, will it make sense and many more), psych myself out and eventually do nothing about it. I really do love my comfort zone but I had to break out somehow. Inspired by a book on personal development and mental growth I read, I decided to set myself to a challenge of stepping out of my comfort zone and trying out new things.

Starting up a blog was more or less the first step. It was entirely new (not something I would normally think of doing on a normal day) and I knew diddly squat about blogging. The decision to start involved a lot of back and fort’s as I wasn't sure if I was up to the task (normally, I would over think this, psych myself out and do nothing like I said earlier) but perhaps, the first time in my life I dint let the fact that I knew nothing about it stop me. It’s been almost 3 months now since I started my blog and I must say, apart from being a new found hobby, starting a blog has been one of the most enriching activities of my life. I mean, I never would have discovered the potential to write If I dint start writing (you know what they say, the best way to learn how to write is to start writing) and I never would have learnt quite a lot of personal development tips and other useful information If I dint start researching and reading books. Quite a lot of friends and fellow blog readers send me messages saying how they really love my blog and how they can relate and learn a couple of things from shared experiences and lessons learnt. It makes me really happy to know that people actually read my blog and find some sense in it lol. (Huge thanks to all my blog readers).

In addition to blogging, learning to drive was something I always found excuses to postpone. I was always very comfortable having people drive me around (lol not like a boss but..) because of course, there is no stress in being driven or not trying to learn the roads yourself because all you do is sit in the car, daydream and viola! You've arrived your destination. Asides that, I always had a phobia for driving. I felt I wasn't up to it and mentally not ready to get behind the wheels and so, I never wanted to try. Learning to drive (now knowing how to), was another step out of my comfort zone and I must say it feels really good to know that I can always get set, grab the keys and drive myself without waiting on anyone or working with other people’s time. Also, I am gradually getting familiar with the roads which I never would have been able to if I dint make the effort to learn.

Also, there has been a shift from familiar work experiences to unfamiliar ones. This particular shift from medical related work experiences, health care and working with kids to business related work experiences has been a major challenge for me. I must say this has been more or less the major push out of my comfort zone as it is more demanding, more exposing, more professional, extra hours of work, a bit of official travelling, meeting new people, increased responsibilities and all. I am usually used to more flexibility, getting to work not exactly in time and getting away with it most times, dressing down most of the time, less professionalism and formality at work place, living work earlier than I normally should, going home not having to do any extra self study and many more. But now, I am required to be at work exactly on time, appear well groomed and professional, respond to calls and emails, meet new clients and basically take on more responsibilities. I would say, in as much as this is way out of my comfort zone, I am quite happy that in doing all these, I would realize some things/abilities I probably never knew I had, develop some new skills, build my confidence and public speaking ability, learn and gain more experiences that would be useful for me in the future and basically grow mentally.

While work has taken over my week days, I decided to start learning a bit of catering (baking for now) during the weekends (not all weekends though) and so far, it’s been good. I learnt to bake some cakes and make spring rolls (all thanks to my friend Oby). I am looking forward to learning how to make other pastries and acquiring more skills in other areas like sewing and bead making with time by the grace of God.

To be very honest, life outside my comfort zone has been really challenging. I barely have time to sleep as much as I normally would love to, but I believe that growth can be uncomfortable as it involves stretching out of your comfort zone and once I stretch into new capabilities, I have to keep practicing them until they become comfortable. And in the process, I am expanding my comfort zone to make room for new abilities which I may never discover if I don’t try to stretch. I encourage everyone to also try stretching out too, It may hurt or get really uncomfortable but one thing I know for sure is that you would grow.

Have a nice week guys J