Balancing Corporate & Homesteading Lifestyles
Expanding Your Comfort Zone The Easy Way
Choosing to get involved with a direct marketing company is much more than creating your own business, its about personal development. Your image and credibility are your brand as well as the product or service that you are selling. This means many of us are often required to step outside our comfort zone for an activity that is required for our success. My response to that ... easier said than done!
Stepping outside that comfort zone can be very intimidating and overwhelming to many but you will hear it over and over ... you must step outside your comfort zone to grow. I disagree. Learn to expand your comfort zone so that you never have to step outside. It is not as hard as you think.
Recently I watched a great presentation by one of our company leaders and his insight was eye-opening. He spoke of how he was told to approach the smartest and best person he knew about his business opportunity. Being new to the business, this reach was outside his comfort zone, but he did it anyway and utterly failed. Let's face it, when we step out of our comfort zone, our confidence wavers and this does not make for a very inspiring presentation. Some people can pull it off, but many cannot and most do not want to be put in the position to find out.
My leader said this ... we all have grades of comfort in our comfort zone. You do not need to step outside your comfort zone but operate on the border in order to grow your comfort zone for the activity that is required for success.
So, what does this mean? If it's public speaking, start with a family member or friend and practice. Gain a little confidence. Then move out to the border of your comfort zone and present to an acquaintance. Do this several times, gain confidence, and you'll find that your comfort zone has expanded a little further.
Find your boundaries and operate on the border. It's a process of steps, operating on the borders (not comfortable but not impossible) and slowing moving out with each success as experience and confidence is gained.
In short, you don't have to step outside, but you must operate on the border of your comfort zone and expand as you grow your confidence. Do this and you'll never have to step outside your comfort zone.
