How often do you step out of your comfort zone? What motivates you to do it?
You may already have read Snowballing – a blog post a few weeks ago which favours taking a small action, a small step in the right direction to help you step outside your comfort zone.
Snowballing was written in response to me saying “Yes” which at the time was a very small step in the direction of a huge stretch of my own comfort zone. I said “Yes” to doing stand up comedy for charity.
As I write this, its a whole month to the comedy event and I want to share with you my comedy journey and how I face my fears leading up to the event……..
It started a few weeks ago. When The Gingerbread Charity asked for volunteers. Saying “Yes” was the easy part. I was motivated more about proving to myself that I could step outside of my comfort zone than anything else, so the fundraising part was just a bonus.
Yes, I get nervous about public speaking. Its those butterflies that keep me on my toes, give me an edge when I’m presenting. Comedy on the other hand is something else. How can the person that can’t even remember a joke stand up on stage and perform stand up comedy to an audience of 300 folks. Is it going to be a step too far for me? Let’s face it BBC Radio Stoke christened me Staffordshire and Cheshire’s least funny person.
My emotions vary considerably. I go from super-confident, its just another skill to learn, practice and put into action to the “OMG” state. What if I forget my lines? What if my timing is off? What if no one laughs? or worse still, I’m boo’d off stage.
Like everything we deal with in life – its simply a matter of learning to tune out of the negative voices. That’ll be Frankie. Frankie is the voice of my negative self belief. Frankie is the enemy in my head, the one who is always telling me that I can’t do something, or I’ll be no good at it. When I listen to him he’s right and I often fail in my achievements. I need to listen to Carolyn – my true voice. Carolyn is logical, intuitive and confident. It is my true voice that knows I can do this.
― Henry Ford
The good news is that I’ve been to my first meeting about the comedy evening and met with 9 other equally nervous individuals. When tackling goals having the right support is important. We’ve started to talk about material and how to create it. One of my fears was where would my material come from and already I think I have about 50% of it.
So right now my logical, intuitive and confident voice is on top and taking some very practical steps in writing some material. Knowing that I have this will be one huge confident leap into my ‘stretch zone’.
Anyone wishing to support the cause can do so via my Just Giving Page every pound donated not only goes directly to the charity but also spurs me on and provides motivation – another critical aspect of working with goals.
My next step is to get my material into a usable format and start to think about my delivery. Focusing on these small steps keeps me moving in the right direction.
What’s your next step? What takes you our of your comfort zone? What will you do to help you get there?
Improving your self belief is an empowering process. Call Carolyn today on 07714 216388 for a free 45 minute chat to see what you can do to tackle your comfort zone.
Related articles
- Snowballing (reflectionscoachingblog.wordpress.com)
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