LIVING ON THE EDGE - PART 3. Social Experiment: How I spent 2 weeks outside my comfort zone

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Update: This post series have been published as an article 'Why I Spent 2 Weeks Outside My Comfort Zone' on TurnPoint educational start up website. You can check it out here.

My 'Getting out of your comfort zone' project has come to an end. It is a pity in many ways - we grew very close with many participants and working together as a group made a huge difference - never ever did I get such great support and inspiration. And I will miss being this focused - the project's timeframes kept me well motivated and organized.

The biggest lesson I learned from this programme perhaps is the fact that if I focus on a goal and take consecutive steps in its direction for at least 2 weeks in a row I can achieve HUGE results. I almost couldn't believe that during these two weeks I've done things I've been planning to do for years, but was postponing them for various reasons, waiting for a 'better moment'.

Things happened for me when I overcame my fears. During these 2 weeks

- I have written my first ever short story and took a leap and shared it with the audience for feedback. And I got lots! People actually not only took their time to read the story - but to analyse it in great detail. I could never expect anything similar - it was a huge encouragement and their critique was extremely helpful.
- I have met with other writers in my borough and learned there is nothing scary about calling myself an 'aspiring writer'. That I'm not the only one attempting to write in a foreign language. And that like-minded people can give you a very positive drive! I am meeting them again this week this time to share my story and hear their thoughts.
- I have written an article and dared to send it to a number of publications - let's see what happens next.
- I have restarted this blog, and gave it a tiny makeover. Doing this made me realise how much I'd missed it!
- I have signed up for the writing camp at NaNoWriMo in April and just can't wait to benefit from close work with like-minded people again.
- I have joined the gym and go there every working day during lunch break now. It feels gooood :) And my initial target of 30 swimming pool's lengths currently stands at 40 and I'm not stopping there!

One of the most important things I got out of this game, was understanding that it is absolutely necessary to share my plans and dreams with other people. Previously I was more of a I-will-tell-people-when-I've-already-made-it kind of girl. The universe needs to know about my plans and goals, because this is the way I can get the support and can share ideas. During the recent couple of years I’ve learned my lesson - without the support and participation of others I'm not getting much further ahead. People shared so many useful things with me after they leaned about my dream and their support still keeps me going.

You are probably guessing what I will tell you next. Yes, all magic happens outside of your comfort zone. Your development is there too. And the best people you will ever meet are there as well. And all the new places and new people will become your comfort zone in the end. In fact it will happen rather soon.

As I continue the journey outside my comfort zone my adventure becomes more and more fascinating every day. I am starting to make bigger steps towards freedom. And I can't wait to see what will happen next because my personal experiment is not over yet.

Acknowledgements: 'Getting out of your comfort zone' is a project led by Svetlana Pokrevskaya on her blog (in Russian). This post has been inspired by her articles.

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LIVING ON THE EDGE - PART 2. Social Experiment: How I spent 2 weeks outside my comfort zone

Update: This post series have been published as an article 'Why I Spent 2 Weeks Outside My Comfort Zone' on TurnPoint educational start up website. You can check it out here.

This post is a continuation of the social experiment on leaving your comfort zone I'm currently being a part of.
The idea of the game is based on the players taking a closer look at our daily behaviours to identify what it is that makes us uncomfortable and overcome it - yes, by doing it more often. As simple as that - gradually turning the zone of our discomfort into our comfort zone, widening our personal boundaries, working on our current limitations.

I was responsible for coming up with a 2-week strategy on how I would do this. My plan was simple - every day get out of your comfort zone. I made a list of things to do which included items ranging from talking to strangers (even if to ask the time) to going somewhere alone and saying 'no'. I topped my plan off with some healthy practices I wanted to make a part of my routine but never got down to doing -I finally signed up for the gym and started to wake up earlier.
The project gradually became my motivation. I made my goals public to other participants and had to report on the progress every second day. The results came along unexpectedly quickly.

Back in the days of my inner struggle and lack of self-worth - before I started to play with my comfort zone - I found a perfect course run by a group of enthusiasts on a tropical island. The course aimed at helping the participants transition out of a boring job to doing what they love. No matter how ideally it suited my situation there was no way how I could afford it, not to mention the cost of the flight. While I was still working on finalizing my goals for the comfort zone game I got a contest notification into my mailbox. Guess what the main prize was? The winner got to attend my dream course for free. On condition of publishing a video of herself telling a story, sharing it on social media and getting voted for. The person who collected the most votes would win the course.

I will just say that it was extremely hard to overcome my fears, the shyness of being on camera, the inability to make and edit videos, to talk to the audience, fears of not being voted for - they were countless! The only reason which made me make that video was the promise to myself I had made - every day to get out of my comfort zone. And I did it. I made the video and posted it before I could delete it. And it wasn’t even the hardest thing. The hardest was getting in touch with several hundreds of my friends asking them to vote for me and telling them – yes, I want to change my job, in fact I am going to change my life! And it all paid off - I won the course.

At first it was hard to get out of my comfort zone and I had to remind myself I need to do it at least once a day. Then I learned how to do it differently - I started to analyse my responses to situations. Is it because I'm busy that I do not want to go to this new place? Tired? Or is it me being afraid? If I was completely honest with myself in 99% of cases it was the latter. So I mercilessly directed myself towards the source of my fears. When you approach the matter consciously and understand where the discomfort is coming from it becomes much easier to handle it, as you understand that the fears are artificial and there is nothing really to be afraid of. Nothing terrible can happen. While something amazing just might. And most probably it will!

I have one more week to go withe the project... It's a tough game we play! Come back here soon to find out the results of the experiment.

Acknowledgements: 'Getting out of your comfort zone' is a project led by Svetlana Pokrevskaya on her blog (in Russian). This post has been inspired by her articles.

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