This year is off to a solid start so far! If I’m being completely honest, my anxiety and relaxation has never been so low! This year is going much better than last year did, and I couldn’t be happier about it! I wrote a post about my college experience thus far, if you want to learn about that. I am working to keep up the good momentum from the start of the school year to make this year excellent! Part of how I’m working to make this year so good, is by pushing my comfort zone!
Proving Myself Wrong
Thinking back, I was a bit worried about how the start to the school year was going to go. I anticipated to be like last year: very lonely, in a depressive state, and high anxiety levels. However, I cannot be more happy to be so wrong. I have been somewhat lonely, but I am working to make some connections, and my anxiety has been at a manageable level.
It’s taken me a long time, but I now understand the importance of pushing your comfort zone. Pushing yourself to be uncomfortable is important because it allows you to grow. If you are always comfortable, then you aren’t growing and changing. And as hard as change and growth are, they are very important to living a happy and successful life.
Ways I Am Pushing My Comfort Zone
- Starting this blog – This was a very nerve-wracking thing for me. I am very shy and quiet by nature, but I also really want people to hear my story. I feel like I have a lot to offer. Starting this blog felt like the right next step for me. I figured I would put my best effort in for one year, and if I change my mind or don’t like what I am doing in one year, I can quit if I want to.
- Attending school events – I hate social gatherings. They always make me so nervous and anxious. This is mainly because of my NLD and my inability to pick up on nonverbal social cues. However, I know it’s important to push myself. I am pushing myself to attend at least three campus events. While being at these things are scary and anxiety provoking, I am also proving to myself that I can do hard things.
- Becoming a peer tutor – My school has a tutoring and writing center that is staffed by peer tutors. Over the summer I was asked if I had any interest in becoming a peer tutor. While the thought of that was incredibly nerve-wracking, I said yes. Saying no would have been the easier answer, but deep down I knew that this would push my comfort zone and that as hard and scary as it seemed, I knew I could do this.
3 Ways to Push Your Comfort Zone
- Seek the uncomfortable – as easy as it is to want be comfortable, it is important to be uncomfortable. Being uncomfortable allows us to grow as human beings. It allows us to change and adapt. This is critical to being happy and successful in life. The easiest way I have found to “seek the uncomfortable” is too say yes to uncomfortable situations. For me, that means saying yes to social situations where I normally would have said no.
- Put yourself out there – this also helps you to find new and exciting opportunities, along with helping you to grow. If you stay hidden, you never know what is out there. A good example of this is internships. Internships give you an idea if you like something or not and they may turn into wonderful opportunities you never would have had if you didn’t say yes.
- Take risks – taking risks may lead to wonderful opportunities! It’s easy to be safe and not take risks, but taking a risk and forcing yourself to be uncomfortable is key to helping you grow as a person. A risk for me is starting this blog. I wouldn’t know where this blogging journey will lead me without trying!
The Importance Being Uncomfortable
Pushing your comfort zone is proving to yourself that you are brave and can do things that are hard and challenging. This then helps to build up your confidence. I have found that this also leads me to feel empowered, leading me to be more willing to take other risks.
If you were to take away one thing from this post today, I want you to remember that pushing your comfort zone is scary and hard, but worth it in the end! Overcoming and accomplishing hard things is empowering and leads to success! Pushing your comfort zone is only benefiting you. And I can guarantee you that you will be happy you pushed yourself!
Leave me a comment down below, I would love to know what are some hard or challenging things for you? Similarly, let me know ways that you have pushed your comfort zone and if you feel if it was worth it or not! I look forward to continuing this conversation! 🙂