A lot of the time we go through our everyday life doing the same thing all of the time. We rarely challenge ourselves and we just tend to continue doing the things that we are the most comfortable with. We stay within our comfort zone. When you are challenged to step outside your comfort zone, something amazing happens. You develop more confidence and a new found self belief and a fire starts to burn inside you. Stepping outside your comfort zone is so important for our development. It makes us a better person and makes us feel really good.

There are so many advantages to getting outside your comfort zone. Not only do you build confidence, but you get to experience so many more exciting things in your life. Back before I started my personal development journey, I was terrified of flying. It was pretty ironic because my husband Mike is a pilot. The company I was with had conferences all around the world in exotic locations and the first one was in beautiful Hawaii, so I figured I had two choices… I would definitely have to stretch myself, get scared and uncomfortable and get on that plane, or I could choose not to go, stay home and be extremely disappointed with myself, missing out on the experience of a lifetime. I decided to suck it up, be brave and get on the plane. Yea it was scary! I have flown many times since then and no flight will ever be as scary. There was a drunk, psycho man on the plane and he was running up and down the aisles, bumping into people, trying to open the door near where I was sitting and eventually had to be restrained and sat on. We ended up having to divert to Fiji so he could be removed from the plane and arrested.

We ended up getting to Hawaii five hours later than we should have, our luggage was delivered late and the flight home was delayed because the radios stopped working! What a classic. I can laugh about it now but for my very first flight over seas, it was the scariest thing I have ever done. But the positive was that I got through it and was ok! No matter how scary something is, if you push yourself and remain calm, you will come out the other end a better person. Because of what happened on that flight, I am now so much more confident whenever I get on a plane. With what I experienced on my first flight I know I can deal with any adversity that comes my way.

The reason I decided to write about this topic today, is because it was only last weekend I was pushed outside my comfort zone in a pretty big way. I have never been one to love getting my photo taken. Most people are either extremely camera shy or the complete opposite and love to jump in every picture they can. A friend of Mikes offered to take some maternity pictures as I am in the later stages of my pregnancy. At first I thought, No way! I had put on a little bit of weight as you do when you stop doing the amount of cardio I was, and also being pregnant your body changes and grows in ways that sometimes make you not feel the best. Don’t get me wrong, I have embraced this pregnancy and had the easiest time with it, I just wasn’t sure if I could be comfortable being in front of the camera.

So it didn’t take me long to change my mind. I thought why not? Yea it would stretch me outside my comfort zone in a big way, but this is something I could do and have with me forever and I thought it would be kind of cool showing my son when he is older. The weekend was awesome. I used it as an excuse to pamper myself and have a bit of ‘me’ time so by the time the photo shoot came around I was relaxed and calm about it all. Holly the photographer made me feel really comfortable and it was such a fun day. I am so grateful to have such a fun husband too. Mike helped me relax by being silly, trying to get in the shots by planking on the rocks behind me. I feel great about the photos. I have only seen a few of the edits and so far they look great. I’m definitely glad I got outside my comfort zone, and challenged myself. I think the most important thing is to make the decision to go for something and then just do it. Once you have decided, it is much easier to go through with the challenge. You just have to take the first step.

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Filed under: Inspiration and Motivation • Network Marketing • Personal Development

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