How to step out of your comfort zone
A few days ago a talked to a person about routines. He told me how he always had a busy schedule and how he liked to be in a routine while I had different views; how I like every day to bring something unexpected and different from the day before, how I like to believe that one thing leads to another. I believe my way of thinking is uncommon in todays society, in which "I don't have enough time" is the most common phrase. Many of my closest friends back home in Sweden follow a daily routine which none of them would like to change. All of this made me think about the importance of moving outside your comfort zone. Doing so is vitally important. The ability to stretch and grow can only begin when we actually move in new directions, whether you are living after a routined schedule or not. In life, we go through different stages. There is the early stage of childhood and happiness, in which everything is bright and colorful, nothing seem to be impossible and we'll get excited just by hearing the word birthdayparty or candy. Then, there is the teenage stage in which we are trying to find ourselves along with the insecurity and questioned direction of friendship, taste in music, fashion and education. However, we still live at home with the food on the table, safeness, money and a warm bed. Somewhere along the road each one of these stages comes to an end. We'll know when it is time to change our clothes from that favourite purple princess dress to something more "cool" and "hip", which will fit in with what everyone else is wearing. But when our life as a high-school teenager comes to the end of an era, when it is time to start thinking about moving away from home, changing school, friends, life, city, country? and culture, the new stage waiting infront of us might suddenly seem pretty hard and quite scary to enter. When graduating high-school I looked at this new stage as something excited, wonderful and adventures. I could not wait to cross the Atlantic ocean, moving my suitcases from Sweden to New York. With a six hour time difference and a schedule filled with everything from working as an au-pair, taking Beauty and Editing writing classes in New York, media and communication courses at Fairfield University, showdance, hockeygames and shopping days along Mulberry Street in Soho, I never had the time nor chance to be scared or feel home-sick. Along with my confidence I raised the bar even higher and started working as a waitress and hostess in the city while trying to manage my future university plans in England. Somewhere along the road I started to get confused. I just could not stop challenging myself and one day it hit me - where am I heading? and why do I keep looking for new challenges? I realized the fact that not only had I moved out of my comfort zone, I was starting to move my "career" in different directions. After giving it some thoughts, I realized following: when it comes to career, it is about knowing your boundaries and stepping beyond them. Therefore, I knew that as long as I followed that one goal of mine I am not to be afraid of following it in new and different directions. Do not be afraid of new challenges because in the spirit of attempting something new, whether it is moving from one country to another, adding new responsibilities, teaming with new people or just doing something different you will, sooner or later, be comfortable wherever you are landing.
What steps are you taking into the unfamiliar?
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