GET COMFORTABLE BEING UNCOMFORTABLE

Guest Post:  Shaun O’Gorman from “Developing Elite Professionals“

I recently took my 2 daughters to Seaworld as part of a school excursion. This was for my 6 year olds school, but we took our 3 year old with us as well. As we were lining up with all of the year 1 kids to go on the “log ride” my 3 year old became really nervous and told me she didn’t want to go on the ride because it was too scary. No matter how much I explained there was nothing to be afraid of she wouldn’t budge, and of course I wouldn’t force her to go on, so she missed out when all the other kids had an absolute ball on the ride.

This made me realise just how much we all let our irrational fear of situations in our life hold us back and therefore we miss out on so many great experiences. Our fears are based on us thinking of the worst possible outcome and then using this as an excuse to justify why we won’t push ourselves outside our comfort zones. It’s OK for my 3 year old daughter as she will experience the ride again when she is older, but how often do you pass up opportunities and possibilities in your life because you don’t want to be uncomfortable?

I would suggest that you may have lost great relationships, careers, financial opportunities etc because of the “it’s too good to be true” or “ I could never do or have that” or whatever other version of fear you have played out in your head, with absolutely no evidence of it being true at all.

We have all heard the “get outside your comfort zone” saying before, but have you ever really understood what this means?

When you push yourself outside your comfort zone it eventually grows to surround you again because you become comfortable with what you just tried. For example if my little girl had gone on the ride she would have got off the other end having loved it and therefore expanded her comfort zone dramatically. Instead she used up a lot of energy and effort to avoid the “discomfort” she perceived the ride would cause and ultimately missed out on that fantastic experience.

When you make it your life’s mission to push yourself outside your comfort zone, as often as humanly possible, you become “comfortable being uncomfortable”. This allows you to be constantly growing and experiencing amazing new things in your life because you conquer new fears and nervousness. I promise you that none of your fears can stop you when you are confident in your ability to conquer them. This doesn’t mean you won’t have challenges in your life but they will be absolutely worth it because of the experiences you create when conquering these challenges.

The person you will become when you are “comfortable being uncomfortable” is someone who will go through their lives looking for new opportunities to push themselves and experience the best their life has to offer. When the final curtain falls wouldn’t you love to look back and think “I absolutely squeezed every drop out of my life by not letting my fears hold me back.”

Live outside your comfort zone and you will live your life to the fullest.

Live It Up Coaching,

www.liveitupcoaching.com.au