Stepping outside of your comfort zone

These last few months have been big for me. I had to massively step outside of my comfort zone a few times and that meant getting comfortable with putting myself out there. This meant especially putting myself out there authentically as me on camera and in person by getting headshots done and going to networking events. I know for some people it comes easily, they look amazing in front of the camera and have bags of confidence when then walk into a room. It comes so naturally to them but for me that is not the case at all. I became obsessed with how I presended myself, what I was going to say, what I wanted peeople to hear. But, as weird as this sounds I was really excited to be stepping out of this lovely cozy zone of comfort where I have not had to do these things before because it was pushing me into my stretch zone and into learning a new skill.

There are 3 zones of "comfort". This is a model that was originally developed by psychologist Karl Rohnke and later adapted. The first is your actual comfort zone where things are all ticking along nicely, you have a routine, everything is easy and you feel fully in control. It is a lovely safe space where you can reflect, and generally be happy.

The second is the stretch zone (or the learning zone). This is where you step out of that cozy cocoon and try something that feels new and perhaps a little uncomfortable. It’s a zone where you discover things you might not already have thought about or felt and it sparks a curiosity to learn what you are capable of.

The final zone is the panic zone. This is a zone where we feel totally overwhelmed, we are so far outside of our comfort zone that we might as well be stuck half way across the world, in a field without a passport, phone, any money and can't speak the language. We feel so overwhelmed that we can't handle what is being asked of us. As humans we don't want to be in this zone because it lets face it. Its frightening, uncomfortable and it does feel safe.

In coaching we like to try and get the client into the stretch zone because that is where the real learning, growth and magic happens. This is where we start to see what we are capable of and how amazing and strong we are and this is where I was at the start of last month. Well and truly in the stretch zone and I learnt that a) this recording malarky can be fun and b) I am showing up as me and that felt really good.

If you feel ready to head into your stretch zone get in touch. I would love to help you get there in a supported way. Just because we are stepping out of our comfort zone doesn’t mean we have to do it without a little comfort of a coach guiding you there with empathy and understanding.