Throughout our lives, many little things make us feel uncomfortable. It can be as simple as sitting at a new desk or meeting a new group of people. No matter the scale, this feeling of discomfort forces us to step outside our comfort zone. Any new little thing that makes us uncomfortable can be scary, but being uncomfortable is a normal occurrence in our daily lives. Many people are born with the ability to be in the spotlight and are not afraid to put themselves out there. Unfortunately, for many others, it does not come as naturally. Putting yourself out there involves a different process for each person, but it is possible for everyone. It can either be excruciatingly hard or relatively easy, depending on how you feel in public and with new situations. Talking about putting yourself out there is an easy thing to do, but initiating the task in real life is not as easy. Last summer, I experienced a situation where I had to step outside of my comfort zone. I was asked to help volunteer coach field hockey for two little girls in my community. At first, I was ecstatic with this job since I love the sport and showing someone my passion always puts a smile on my face. However, the more I thought about it, the more nerve-wracking it became. Even though I view myself as more of a team player than a leader, I won't hesitate to speak up if needed. As I tend to stay more in the background, putting myself out there with planning and leading practices and drills was not easy. During the practice, I sometimes felt scared and nervous when providing feedback and helpful tips. I didn't want my input to offend or discourage the girls if taken the wrong way, even though I'm trying to help them by giving my advice. Within the first few weeks of practice, I had to learn to be more confident and not be afraid of the response I would get with voicing my opinions. Being more confident in myself was not an easy obstacle to overcome, yet the results of doing so have been quite beneficial to me. I might still be shy from time to time, but I find myself acting in ways to build my confidence on an everyday basis. Here are a few things I found that helped me become more confident:
For more ways or steps that help you with stepping out of your comfort zone, I recommend visiting these websites:
Kaya D
10 Comments
Avery
12/15/2020 03:53:52 pm
I really enjoyed reading this blog. I liked how you stated that being uncomfortable is a normal thing that happens to everybody daily. I also found your tips and benefits to being confident very useful. Thanks for sharing!
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Madison Sproule
12/15/2020 06:13:12 pm
This is very true, confidence and stepping out of your comfort zone can be a really hard obstacle to overcome especially when you have to step into a leadership position. One message that you wrote really stuck with me and made rethink how I viewed my personal growth; "in order to grow you must get comfortable with being uncomfortable." This statement hit home and I will definitely apply it regularly when I feel uncomfortable stepping out of my comfort zone. I never thought that was where my personal growth was until now looking back at some uncomfortable obstacles in my life, I see now where I learned to grow in those times. Thank you!
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Kiana Birk
12/15/2020 07:25:33 pm
Thank you for sharing your experiences and tips. When reading this blog something that resonated with me was the satisfaction we get from the mini improvements we make. It is truly a rewarding feeling when you accomplish something you are afraid to do. I also try to work on stepping out of my comfort zone day by day, and I will definitely try out these tips that you have shared!
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Jenna
12/16/2020 11:34:11 am
I can relate to the coaching story, in order to become a certified cheerleading coach to coach the competitive teams, I had to complete two years of volunteering before I was allowed to coach my own teams. It is now five years later and I am very confident in my feedback and a lot more confident talking to people I don’t know very well such as my athlete’s parents. I have strong connections with all the kids and their families because of my confidence as a coach now, it makes a huge difference!
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Brianna
12/16/2020 01:06:17 pm
I can definitely relate to having times where it’s been hard to put myself out there. Seeing the examples you gave about the benefits of putting yourself out there definitely shows that doing it is a good thing and not just a difficult task with no rewards. I never used to post on my Instagram account very often but eventually I realized I post for myself not for others and as soon as I started doing it I no longer felt so uncomfortable doing it.
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Abbey
12/16/2020 01:34:52 pm
Hey Kaya! I thought this was a super relatable blog and I'm glad you were able to step out of your comfort zone. I can definitely relate to this and had trouble stepping out of my comfort zone when I first started tutoring. Most of my students are shy and it forced me to have to step out of my comfort zone and be super bubbly and outgoing. Eventually it got way easier and now I don't worry at all when I'm tutoring. I thought you provided a ton of great ideas to help take that first step to putting yourself out there and I'm glad you were able to share with us!
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nevada
12/16/2020 01:39:37 pm
Kaya, this blog is so powerful!! I completely agree. It all started with YEY last year and the MYC this year. Both of these things have impacted my life in such a way that I cannot even begin to imagine what my life would look like without them! I think your story was very personable and relatable. I have been in those kinds of positions before where you’re trying to give feedback so that it’s perceived as positive feedback vs. negative criticism. I would totally agree with the impacts you’ve experienced and I think that this is something that many people would benefit from reading!
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Nyah Gentry
12/17/2020 08:33:41 am
This is a fantastic blog. I really resonated with it because I did one similar. It’s really important to step outside of your comfort zone because you never know what you might miss if you kept to yourself. I think you wrote this beautifully and I enjoyed reading it
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Kaysey
12/29/2020 01:36:48 pm
Yes, absolutely agree to everything you said. It’s so easy to talk about stepping out of your comfort zone but when faced with the opportunity, there’s hesitation. I personally experienced it when I joined soccer this year, with no experience at all. From your tips, I feel changing up your routine is most impactful as it forces you to do something unfamiliar everyday and can lead to new opportunities. Reading about your personal experience and the tips you’ve mentioned were insightful and comforting. Thanks !
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Gurleen
9/28/2023 02:10:55 pm
Thank you for sharing, I think its very important to step out of your comfort zone once in a while and experience new things. It helps you grow so much as a person and is a great tool for leadership.
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