“Life Begins at the end of your comfort zone. So, if you’re feeling uncomfortable now, know that the change taking place in your life is a beginning, not an ending.” Neale Donald Walsch
New Year, New You? Will you step out of your comfort zone and start living? Will you dare taking that first step towards your goals? That is my wish for you!
Through this post I hope to encourage you to go after what you intend to do, create, share, accomplish. The reality is once you start you are getting closer and closer to your goals!
Well… let me share with you that this first publishing on LinkedIn is my 2018 FIRST daring moment…I have been planning to write in the form of a blog, or quick posts etc…and kept delaying for several valid reasons : overwhelmed with work, looking for the right platform, which subject to start with and so on.
Voilà it is ON, it does not hurt, au contraire, it feels exhilarating to get started on one of the objectives I have set for myself, make the impact I am meant to make, inspire those who are doubtful to trust themselves, who need some encouragements to go after what they want. It is easy to let life’s busy schedule get in the way of who you truly are and what you can accomplish. You then settle and stay within that comfort zone and yet you are frustrated, and start doubting yourself until you take a jump and move in the direction you are setting for yourself.
I used to dare and step out of my comfort zone way more often than I have over the last few years. I remember vividly my experience as an exchange student back in 1999, when I decided to go on exchange in the US for my Master’s Degree in International Business rather than an exchange in England (too close to France, I would have been tempted to go home and not fully immerse myself in my new environment to become bilingual). Well easy to tell the story now, but landing in Lincoln Nebraska from Grenoble (French Alps) seeing corn fields everywhere and flat land all over….wondering how I will spend an exciting year and a half, was quite concerning !!!
Little did I know how transformational this experience would be for me! A real milestone in self-discovery. Out of this comfort zone, from my campus in Grenoble (UPMF), my home, my friends and family around France, I actually realized that I enjoyed meeting new people and initiating conversations (Until then I used to describe myself as extra shy !!!).
Little did I know that this experience would allow me to learn a 4th language, to start acting on a theatre stage in ENGLISH, to meet my boyfriend now husband, to discover that I am passionate about new cultures, new ways of doing things, new ways of thinking, that I want to be inclusive of those that are different from me; I also discovered that I am really independent and enjoy being independent.
Oh let me not forget that “Resilience” knocked on the door quite a bit (yes that moment you are tired of asking people to repeat what they said and you want to give up socializing and just stay confined in your comfort zone). And that “Joy” from getting closer to my goal of becoming bilingual, when I started dreaming in English!
Really! When you step outside of your own world, environment, comfort zone you actually push yourself to discomfort, and whether you like it or not, this pushes you to explore, to discover some deep aspects you did not know about yourself. Ultimately you expose yourself to new learnings, an expansion of your view on the world, and expansion on your approach to differences and deeper empathy and appreciation for new, and unusual situations.
I truly hope that someone could get a glimpse of inspiration from this post to take that first step. Take a chance, step into the unknown and go beyond your safe limits.
Aida Camara- Crowder
