Get Into The Arena
Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
By: Peggy Willms
(3 min. read)
Whether you want to admit it or not, we are on this planet to gain knowledge and level up. You’re here for a reason, and that is not just a mantra.
Stepping outside your comfort zone, taking control, and guiding your destiny can stir many emotions. To name a few: fear and insecurity. Getting uncomfortable sounds like an enormous task, such as getting a different job, starting a new relationship, or moving to Georgia, but you don’t have to go big out of the gate.
Expanding knowledge and enhancing your growth will only occur if you get into the arena and come out of the stands. Getting into the center of the arena is where the action takes place, where you get dirty and take risks. Stepping outside your comfort zone (the stands; spectator) can happen in small increments—literally, one step. Picture the stands at a concert or baseball game. You can get closer to the action if you take one step down, one step at a time.
It isn’t just introverts who struggle with moving into the arena of challenge. Extroverts get stuck in routines and the mundane as well.
Start by asking yourself a few questions. Do you eat the same foods, use the same laundry soap, shower at the same time, eat lunch at noon, and only go to the gym for exercise versus a walk? Consider trying a few different things. See how you feel? What bubbles up? What actions did you take to prepare for a slight change? How resistant were you?
Even taking one step toward getting into the arena will cause a bit of anxiety or even defensiveness. That is normal.
Here is a fun activity I have tried with clients…changing their laundry detergent for a month. Oooh, the self-talk that can kick up with this simple shift. “What if I don’t like the smell? The cost! I hate liquid. I don’t want to be told what to do. This is dumb.” Then, go deeper. Our routine frequently isn’t even what “we” want or choose it to begin with. Do you use your current brand because you recognized the smell when growing up and your mother did laundry? Are you using it because you found an outstanding deal: two for one? Your answers will teach you a lot about your willingness to try new things and take risks.
Our brain just wants to lie on the couch and do nothing for the rest of our lives. It’s not like your brain wakes up and says I will teach you something new today. We have to force it. Why do you think there are so many brain games? Experts have realized over the decades that unless you challenge a brain, it just wants to go to sleep or watch reruns of The Golden Girls.
Change up that self-talk. Again, using our laundry detergent change as an example. “Why am I resisting this change? What if I like another product better? No one will die if I try Tide for a month!”
I’m really challenging you to think about this and teach yourself you can make little changes and receive gigantic results. You will eventually be more willing to take a considerable risk in hopes of a big reward. Surviving this small challenge will give you the knowledge and confidence to try new foods, go on a date, move the furniture around, apply for a job…trust me.
If you don’t have plants, start with caring for a small one. Get a cactus…ha. Try switching up the colors of the veggies you eat regardless of whether you like them. Have a green day. YES, you can eat Brussels sprouts.
We are huge, habitual human beings. However, some studies have shown that you can change your habits in as few as five days. It doesn’t take 21 days in most cases. That is exciting.
We find comfort in our habits. And that tick tick tick is what you are looking for when you embed healthy habits. But without challenges and change, you will eventually get bored and fall off the wagon.
This week, try to be creative and step closer to that arena of change and see what falls out
Maybe on your way to work tomorrow, try a different route, park in a different spot, or have lunch at a different time. See what falls out.
You will soon understand what might be causing your resistance to change or why negative feelings rise to the top. You got this.
Peggy Willms
All Things Wellness, LLC
peggy@allthingswellness.com
The information provided is the opinion of the author. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice: diagnosis or treatment. The author, the business, All Things Wellness, LLC, and its owner Peggy Willms, are not liable for risks or issues associated with using or acting upon the information in this article or website. We assume no responsibility for tangible and intangible damages such as physical harm caused by using a product, loss of profits or loss of data, and defamatory comments. This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I may earn from qualifying purchases.
