Exit the Comfort Zone
The Conference
Click here to learn more about the Dynamite Circle and DCBKK2019.
Webinar Software Reviews
Since the last update, I've published 2 more webinar software reviews, both of which I got many requests for:
Deadlines, Moving the Needle, Etc.
If you're not familiar with the productivity concepts I talked about yet, check out my content on the topic here and learn more about my productivity course here.
To clarify, when I say "move the needle", I mean doing something that makes a significant difference to a relevant goal. I find this a useful concept for prioritization. For your online business, there are countless things you could do, that would make some positive difference. But which ones would really move the needle? Which ones would make a clear, significant difference to your bottom line or some other business metric that really matters?
The Challenge
Tell me what uncomfortable, but potentially impactful thing you can do this year, to level up your skills and move the needle in your business, before the end of 2019! Leave a comment below!
35 comments
Comments are closed. This discussion is archived from the original site.
I'm still not convinced about the "working outside your comfort zone". Lots of people talk about it, but my thought is that we only get why life, why do stuff that feels uncomfortable. Just because it's uncomfortable doesn't mean that it's a good thing or going to produce positive results. But maybe I am just too old fashioned. I like doing stuff that things that I like doing.
Thanks for your comment, Paul!
For sure, being uncomfortable in itself is not a merit. And being uncomfortable is not a sign that you're doing something right. There are infinite ways to suffer/be uncomfortable that don't move you forward and only few ways to suffer that move you forward.
On the other hand, in my experience, comfort is a trap. Because being comfortable for too long weakens you until you fall below your current threshold of comfort.
As an example of this, sitting on a couch, eating and passively consuming something on a screen is always more comfortable than getting up, going outside and doing something active. But if you spend all your time on the couch, eating and passively consuming, you soon need more and softer pillows, to remain comfortable. Passive consumption gradually makes you miserable and you seek escape with even more passive consumption. And soon enough, you have become too weak for anything other than sitting, eating and consuming. Comfort becomes a prison, increasingly difficult to escape.
To me, a life worth living is one of intensity and rest, in which the intense parts make me grow, expand my horizons and expand or protect my freedoms (freedom to move, financial freedom, freedom from chronic pain, freedom from anxiety, depression etc.). And the restful parts are all the more precious for coming after periods of intensity.
The No Comfort Zone. Love the concept. And your message is timely. I'm currently looking at a plan that's sure to violently yank myself out of my comfort zone and onto a new plateau. Thanks for the shove, Shane.
Thanks for your comment, Hans!
I either misunderstand or I disagree with the stacked projects and priorities comments. If the SEO project was the priority it ought to have been the thing to work on, not the reviews. So, why even do the reviews? It seems like that is a way to delay the priority.
It makes sense to me to always be working on the priority.
Because I missed the deadline with the webinar reviews, I put those on hold to work on the SEO course (SEO course = higher priority). The webinar reviews are the thing I said "no" to.
Now that my work on the SEO course is done, I'm finishing up the webinar reviews before my next project.
Hi Shane,
Here're my thoughts about going outside of my comfort zone. To briefly describe this, I'll use an analogy. A person who creates a product based only on their own thought about the demand for that product is often disappointed because there is little to no demand for it from the public. Often times, the biggest reason for that low demand is the product is not solving a pressing need. And of course, I would not be aware of that fact because I did not ask the public or ask my audience about what problems they need solved.
Now, back to the comfort zone. Spending time developing whatever skill awaits outside the the zone may be a waste since it does not help to solve a pressing need of the public or my audience.
Therefore, my preferred approach is to determine the pressing needs that exist, prioritize them and pursue the top item on the list. If that most important problem requires going outside my comfort zone, then I will. The key element is there would be a clear value in going outside my comfort zone. That value would be; to develop a skill or ability that is needed in the solution to the problem that the audience has stated is an important problem.
My final comment is that spending time going outside the comfort zone to develop some skill or have some experience that is motivated only by my own thoughts is what I call a hobby. Now, there is nothing wrong with hobbies. But if my primary mission is to help the public or my audience, I must be careful not to confuse my hobby interests with my more important mission interest of helping my audience. And when I routinely favor my hobby interests over the interests of my audience, that's what I call retirement :-)
Regards,
Randal
I totally agree with this, yes. We shouldn't seek to be uncomfortable just for the sake of it. We should exit the comfort zone strategically, so to speak. :)
ohhh yes "Burning platform" makes the feet dance ;-)
Maxing out a credit card makes me uncomfortable enough to get a plan going and take action and reverse my debt situation.
That seems like a terrible idea. Debt is a vicious cycle, so it's exactly the kind of thing not to take risks with. You can definitely get out of your comfort zone without taking unreasonable risks.
Comfort zone = Boredom
So, yes, I am constantly doing things that are new. I love to learn. I talk to people. I even adopted an aggressive dog who weighs the same as I, because I was bored. Things were getting too easy ... :-)
But, you were talking about something different. Weren't you? You were talking about moving out of our comfort zone on something that will move the needle for our business.
Hereby the trap is that we may not even realize that there is room for movement. We think we are doing great and have a complete disconnect on the reality.
For example sales. I thought I was doing all kinds of sales things (I WAS! :-P). But then you asked me on one of the office calls, if I was actually asking for the sale.
Ummmm ... so I learned that posting a sales link is not actually asking for the sale.
My goals are:
1. Sales
a) On every third social post asking for the sale
b) On every blog article (I am updating them) having at least one sales box (depending on length of post) for one of my products
And that is super hard for me. Asking for the sale is like asking for rejection on a daily basis. Yuk!
2. Be more motivating when correcting students
Another thing is soft skills, when we may think we're trying really hard, are fully aware of an issue, even mastering it, but in reality we are still missing the mark. (As I found out this morning from one of my customers ... dang ... more work to do there ... )
3. Take time off
After being a workaholic for so many years, I find that I don't really know what to do with myself when taking time off. And when I force myself to do so, it is like another chore. Something to do. I never switch off. And I am trying to relearn this. Trying to find the space where in childhood I could laze away whole afternoons reading or just lying on a meadow looking at clouds. For no reason at all.
I can relate to #3 very much. I think I'm gradually getting better at it, but it definitely doesn't come easy, to step away from work.
Ann and Shane, I was like this too for many years. Then I had a child and my ego was decimated while she was small (the neuroscience of parenting is utterly fascinating) - suddenly I could cry at a painting because it was so beautiful. I've learned that deprioritizing the ego a little brings great meaning and deep satisfaction that is often missing from long workaholic binges and always seeking more tasks to check off or something new to learn (quests of the ego). Moving towards the center of the ego spectrum some has made me much happier.
If you're interested in shifting your own ego and haven't read Michael Pollen's new book "How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence", it's worth a read/skim. Meditation is another (slow) way to dissolve the ego. Snuggling babies and dogs also seems to do the trick. The science of how to do it is pretty early so I'd love to know if anyone knows of any other good ways.
That's fascinating!
I did read How to Change Your Mind and thought it was fairly good. I guess if Michael Pollan is writing about psychedelics, that's a sign that they have truly re-entered the mainstream and I believe that especially for therapeutic purposes, this is a very good thing.
As for ego dissolution, the most accessible way for me is to do things that put me in a flow state. That's temporary, but it is essentially entering a state of no-self.
Hey Kendra, thank you for your comment. It is great that your baby helped you become less of a workaholic.
I do not believe that workaholism can be reduced to ego.
Workaholism is multidimensional. It can be a labor or of love for example when you try to help too many people. It can also be due to fear, to poor self-esteem, time perception disorder, underestimating tasks, it can be an addiction, upbringing (you don't get to play until ALL your homework is done), trust issues, interpersonal skills issues, boundary issues, etc. etc.
Furthermore, I do not believe that ego is a bad thing. Pop psychology has reduced ego to one aspect only. And labelled it as "bad".
But ego is so much more than that. It is your sense of self, of worth. It is the mediator between your subconscious and your higher self. It is who you are.
Oh Ann, I totally agree that workaholism shouldn't be reduced to ego and that 'ego' means many things in popular culture lately, many of which are completely inaccurate or mischaracterized. I'm actually not talking about the ego that underlies your self worth, I'm talking about the part of your brain that's responsible for promoting doing vs being. Neither end of the spectrum is inherently good or bad, you need both. For me, things that shifted the balance towards being helped me be a much better doer. Just sharing an interesting anecdote!
I hear you, Kendra. :-)
My goal is to meditate each morning. Which on some days goes better than on others.
BUT, from this I learned the skill of "mini-meditations (that's what I call it I don't know, if there is a proper name for this).
Which means during the day when I think of it, I take a breath and drop right into the mental state I have while meditating. It feels like the eye of a cyclone. Very calm, very quit while around the chaos rages. It is a very nice and relaxing feeling.
Hi Shane, thanks for the update! Currently, the biggest challenge to move out of my comfort zone is to put myself in front of a camera and start making videos for my website and online courses (Course Craft is an invaluable help here...). In my life, I've left many situations – both personal and business related – when everything got too comfy, without any growth opportunities in sight. And in retrospect, it was always a good thing to do although it surely didn't feel easy at that time. So, I can totally relate to that concept. Really looking forward to the SEO course! And thanks for the webinar platform reviews
Thanks for your comment, Melanie! Getting in front of the camera is challenging, but it's also a growth experience I recommend very much. :)
Reaching out to my clients & students to get official testimonials to use in the new webinar for my new online course that I'll be launching starting this fall. Pretty slides are nice, but I can't think of anything else better than having those testimonials as part of the webinar presentation. #2 is methodically doing the webinar launch over and over until I get it optimized. I do wish there was a really perfect webinar solution! I still haven't decided which one I'm going to use! (I've used at least 3 of them in the past- wasn't in love...) But of course the recent review have been SUPER helpful - I guess just pick one that's the closest match and make it work!
This is great! Indeed, testimonials are a strong addition to your sales message.
Yes, let's go for some fun and get out of comfort zone. Here are my plans for the next 3 month.
1. Create a course about something I never imagined myself before doing an online course. But, I tested the market and it was receptive. Plus, I believe in it. Aslo getting in video for making it. Good challenge for me.
2. Getting a real job. Not sure if this is out of comfort zone. But whatever works out first. The course (and outsourcing) or the regular work. Maybe it will be good to hide myself after this pirate incursion in online markets.
I will be attentive to that secret project. Sounds good.
Yes! Creating a course is exciting stuff. :)
Not sure what this "real job" thing is, that you speak of, though.
In 2018 I did many videos for my colleagues in translation to position myself as a good trainer and to know how to create content.
Last month, I started to create 2-3 short videos a week On LinkedIn to attract customers who need translation services.
It may seem similar to what I did in 2018, but the type of content is totally different and my purposes are different as well. I need to create more engaging videos and build my personal brand which needs a certain type of videos I am not used to, such as personal videos to add more reality to my-translation-provider-self.
Also, I used to run my team my way, but in 2019 I asked my team to share their ideas more and started to test them. It seems working so far. Delegating part of the thinking tasks was hard for me :)
Good stuff! Handing over responsibility and leadership to team members can be challenging. It's great that you're daring these steps.
I read all the comments and your response to each one. Learnt something from those. Regards.
Glad to hear that! :)
Hi Shane, I tend to disagree whenever I hear the "leave your comfort zone" advice (similar to Paul Hardingham).
By now, I think it´s a matter of vocabulary!
What we want to get rid of, is not comfort but habits which are not useful for our goals.
I come from a place with nearly zero comfort, being trained as a professional dancer, with a strong ambition to do the same kind of projects as my colleagues - or even bigger ones - although I already had kids and they did not. The result was an awkward state of way too little sleep, way too much training, illness (e.g. heart muscle infection), disconnect and discontent with myself. Probably a perfect example for "discomfort is not a sign that you´re doing something right".
For me, the path to clarity and focus was actually to let go of the discomfort and the self-implemented "have-to"s in my head.
And to go for the pleasure and the joy.
This was where I discovered that I love doing Yoga videos and that I am really good at helping people for a good posture and against back pain… which turns out to be quite a comfortable way of living, compared to what I did before.
What I still need to let go of on a regular basis, are HABITS that might get me stuck, and FEAR of things that I haven´t practiced a lot - that one is for sure.
That it might need to feel a little uncomfortable along the way is something I totally agree with! I just would rather not overemphasize it.
To leave my comfort zone, I'm going to hire help. ack! Super uncomfortable for me, but necessary for the growth I carefully envision. I would much rather learn to do it myself (I love learning and mastering new skills), I hate spending $ and I don't trust anyone to do it as well as I would. So much to let go of. Thanks for the prompt to turn it into a real plan :)
You mentioned SEO project completion do you have a publishing date?
Wow! Your "past-present-future me" analogy really hit home for me!
I've just realised I do this A LOT, particularly when it comes to learning/studying and creation stuff. I've just understood this is past-me wanting to get me out of my confort zone, and I fully know futur-me will be super happy that I did it, but present-me really struggle with it all...
So, no problem for me to plan for things to get me out of my confort zone, I naturally do this already. But I have a hard time living up to my past-me promises and plans. I will leave things on paper. I will tell myself that my peace of mind is more important than keeping up with a plan, and I will be (too?) flexible.
My personal priorities (family, self-care, etc.) will almost always interfere with whatever plans I set out for me to get me out of my confort zone. So I'm a bit torn between "leveling-up" and just being in peace with my life. Does this make sense?
I'm in F&A and haven't finished it (perfect example). Maybe the answer is right there?
Web design ( building a relevant professional looking blog, website marketing funnel ) and learn copywriting
Hey Shane,
Are you familiar with antifragile and the books by Jonathan Haidt?
I came across this today and I'll be putting them onto my reading list ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUSMbMzm1Ko
That plays right into this theme, doesn't it?
I can create anything that is really unique, challenging, & hopefully is needed. BUT I allow life to interfere with staying on schedule. I scheduled to do video #1 of a series yesterday. At 8:30pm I was recording it in my grubbies on my front porch. I stayed about 50% on my outline but it felt great to get it done. Now I have to tackle the rest of my list this weekend. I really need the motivation & productivity kick-in-the-seat-of-the-pants your videos give me. They help a lot! Thanks, Shane!