What a morning I had today! One problem after another, so come lunchtime, I decided a distraction was in order. It was raining outside and going for a walk to clear my head didn’t really appeal, so instead I opted for switching on the tv….quite unusual for me!
Oprah was on…I love Oprah and all that she stands for, so I was all set. Having missed the beginning of the show, the first thing I saw was five women preparing for a sky-dive.….now they really had my attention….memories came flooding back about my one and only sky-dive in Namibia several years ago. In a bid to see how the desert meets the sea from a bird’s eye perspective and a desire to face and conquer my fear of heights, I had taken it upon myself to do my first ever sky-dive.
At this point I had been traveling around Africa for around five months. It was THE trip of my lifetime, something I had dreamed of doing since childhood and finally made happen. As you would expect, I was faced with a number of challenges during my travels, but I noticed that each time I stepped outside my comfort zone and faced a fear, my confidence grew and I got to the point where I couldn’t wait to face the next challenge. It started with really simple things such as just walking down the street in Nairobi. Sporting lily white skin, pristine clothes and being tall and blonde, I was a magnet for every hustler in town and blending in wasn’t really an option. But with every baby step my confidence grew and soon I was more than comfortable on the streets of Nairobi, and by the time I got to Namibia I was ready to take on the challenge and go sky-diving, even though sky-diving had most definitely not been on my agenda until then….I just couldn’t resist the challenge!
By now you are probably wondering what this has to do with the title of this post, “Step Outside The Box – Grow Your Comfort Zone And Feel Empowered”. Well, it turns out that the five women on Oprah had been challenged to “step outside the box” and sky-diving was just one of the challenges that had been set for them.
Back in the studio it transpires that all five women have a fear of heights. Four of the women completed the jump; the fifth passed out when the plane reached 10,000ft, overcome by the terror of jumping! Watching the four women who had completed the jump walk back to the base after their jump, side by side and
dressed in their multi-coloured one-piece suits, they reminded me of a group of astronauts returning from a mission. I noticed a new air of confidence about the women, a confidence you only see in a person who has faced an enormous fear and come out the other end. And sure enough, back in the studio, all the women spoke of how empowered they felt, having completed the series of challenges Oprah had set them. They felt proud to have conquered their fear and they had come to realise that they could do anything they set their mind to! They had stepped outside their comfort zone and in so doing they had expanded their comfort zone and they were ready for the next challenge, building on that ever growing confidence.
Oprah’s show prompted me to look back over my life and write down all the challenges I have faced and conquered, and it made me realise how far I have traveled, much to my amazement. That in itself is truly empowering and I now know I can achieve anything I want, if I really want it. That of course leads us to finding our true ‘why’ and a whole new topic. We’ll save that one for another day.
So, the moral of this story is:
1. In order for you to grow, your comfort zone needs to grow
2. In order to grow your comfort zone, step outside the comfort zone, face your fears and conquer them, one mini step at a time
3. As you grow, your business will grow
4. If you set your mind to it, you can do ANYTHING you want!
Please take a moment to write down all the fears you have already faced and conquered, and feel the sense of empowerment. Then write down five fears you are facing in your business and get to work on them. I’d love to hear how you go in the comments box below.
PS. I’m still scared if heights, but I have learned to control that fear and deal with it 
Belinda Cunningham
Don Enck
Linda G. Cox
Sue Price
Darlene Davis
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Louise
What a great post. You have a wonderful way of writing which feels like you are talking to me. I agree with you totally on doing things to overcome your fears. I also relate to the women on Oprah as I once had a total fear of heights. I used to be afraid to stand on a baby step ladder. So I decided to start abseiling. The first time I was so scared I almost backed out but pushed through. I have a photo which was taken of me which hangs in my office and services as a constant reminder that I can overcome fears. It is the best feeling when you do.
I must say you were brave in your travels. A great story.
Sue
Sue Price´s last blog ..A Head for Business
Thank you Sue for sharing your abseiling story….I’ve done a number of crazy things, but abseiling and bungy jumping are not among them. When I did my sky dive, I was strapped to another person, so I actually had very little choice other than to jump when the time came, but you went over that edge on your own…amazing! And I love your idea of having a photo in your office as a reminder of what you can accomplish. I should do that also as a reminder.
Louise~
This is an awesome post! My two teenage boys are in the room with me and I told them the story too! All three of us were in Awe! They said, I want to do that!!! I don’t feel as enthusiastic as they do! They’re teenage boys! Gutsy!
I used to be afraid of spiders. Not like arachnophobia or anything, but when I was going to school in Hawaii, I worked at the school farm. Part of my responsibilities were to pick the orchids for lea’s. The orchids needed to be picked even if they weren’t needed for lea’s just to keep them growing. There were about 10 rows of 8′ tall bushes, similar to rows of corn stalks. I would walk down every lisle all the way to the back corner of the garden, picking and dropping the unneeded orchids. On the last isle, in the back corner, a VERY LARGE spider had spun a web from one isle to the other, crossing the path. OK, it was not poisonous, it was a garden spider, but it was freaky! This spider hung out in the middle of this web, preventing me from passing. I was scared to death of it. Since I was the only person picking the orchids, I was confident no one would discover the unattended rows of orchids. After awhile I decided I needed to conquer my fear of this spider. I had another worker capture this spider and put it in a glass jar. I carried that spider around with me for days. When I felt OK about the spider, I put it back in the garden and I was much more calm.
I still don’t pick up spiders, but I don’t kill them either. Here in Alaska we don’t have poisonous spiders and we want them all alive to eat the flies!!!
~Linda
Linda G. Cox´s last blog ..Define Our New Reality
Linda…..thank you for your lovely spider story….you obviously began facing your fears at a young age. How amazing that you kept that spider alive and then released it back into the garden….Not many kids would do that and I think that says a lot about who you are! Growing up in Hawaii must have been amazing….Hawaii is on our list of travel destinations, so I’ll have to pick your brains about that some day.
Hi Louise
I am interested to hear if this overcame your fear of heights or not. Could you do it again on your own? I would also be interested in your readers views of whether we have to keep working on the one fear or can we just simply take action once and it is gone? Also makes me think how important it is to be able to realise or identify what the fear is so we can face it. Some fears are easier to identify than others such as a fear of heights. Often we don’t move forward in life or business and we don’t know why and don’t identify it as a fear. So firstly we have to have the realisation that a fear could be the problem and then try to identify the fear, but the scariest part is to take action to eradicate the fear. You have taken action well done. I am sitting here thinking about my long list of fears I need to take action on let alone the ones I know are there and are holding me back and yet to be properly identified.
Belinda
belinda cunningham´s last blog ..What is a favicon and how can I get one
Thank you Belinda for your thoughts. Firstly, yes I am still scared of heights, but the fear is no longer as paralising as it used to be. I often have to face this fear when climbing on our ski tours and I can now deal with it. It used to prevent me from even attempting certain routes. Now my decision on whether or not to attempt a route is based on my abilities rather than my fears.
I think it depends a little on what the fear is as to whether or not we need to repeat it to truly overcome it. But as our comfort zone expands, things become second nature and we don’t even think about them any more. When I started out in network marketing I had a fear of picking up the phone and talking to strangers. Now, I don’t even think about it, but I am facing other challenges such as the fear of public speaking. And as children, we face all kinds of challenges, such as learning to walk and then run….now we take these skills for granted.
Identifying our fears is an interesting one. As you say, some are very easy to identify, but others we may not even be aware of and they could be holding us back one way or another. I’d be interested to hear other people’s thoughts on how we can identify our subconscious fears….
Louise
Louise:
I was truly inspired by your post as, I am sure, many other people reading this will be.
Great story with a great application and so very true when it comes down to growth of your business!
Several months in Africa – sounds like something I would love to do one of these days!
Best,
Ana Hoffman
PS Thanks for stopping by my blog!
202 Bite-Sized Tips To Insanely Increase Your Blog Traffic
Ana | Blog Traffic Generation´s last blog ..SEO vs PPC Faceoff- Which Side Are You On
Thank you for visiting my blog Ana and your kind comments. If you go to Africa, I might just have to come with you
….Africa is beautiful and it’s people are amazing….I learnt so much from them on my travels and they will always occupy a special place in my heart….
What a great resource!
Louise,
A year ago I took my cousin on a hot air balloon ride. While that is far from the daring act of sky diving, the palms of my hands were wet through the entire experience. I, too, suffer from fear of heights. As we drifted over the Temecula wine country, a fellow passenger proposed to his girlfriend. In such tight quarters it was impossible not to be swept up in the moment. It made me forget the altitude and just breath in the fresh air and feel the quiet of the earth along with the hiss of the torch that kept our balloon afloat.
Would love to walk the streets of Nairobi with you. Scandinavian blood runs deep (fair skin, blond hair). That would be an awesome experience.
I could not agree more that stepping outside of the box is a vital step in growing yourself and your business. In fact, I try to experience it at least once a day!
Great words of wisdom you’ve shared here!
Darlene Davis´s last blog ..The Lost Art of Writing
Darlene, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful story about your hot air balloon ride. Isn’t it amazing how just taking our focus away from the fear cures it….albeit perhaps only temporarily. I’m so glad you got to enjoy and appreciate the stillness of hot air ballooning with just the hiss of the torch in the background….. And I have to take my hat off to you for stepping outside your box at least once a day….I will take a leaf out of your book and try and do the same. I love that idea.
Louise
Hi Louise,
There are times in life when fear can really set in. Of course there’s a natural fear, the one that says to protect you in times of danger. Then there’s another fear, this one kicks in at unforeseen times and is typically not life threatening but strong enough to stop us in our tracks. These are the ones that prevent us from moving forward in our life. Things like picking up the phone to talk to a prospect.
A few years back I had the pleasure of taking a “ropes course” with a group of team mates. It was a day long event that had challenge after challenge. On e building on the other. Each one designed to stretch you a little more and take you out of your comfort zone. It was interesting to see how the group changed and how I changed throughout the day. All of us facing our fears and growing in confidence.
Thanks Louise for the great reminder to get uncomfortable.
Don Enck´s last blog ..Are You Participating in an Online Tribal Community
Thank you for your great words of wisdom Don. You are so right that we need to differentiate between fears that are there to protect us (and fear of jumping out of a plane probably falls into that category
and fear that is really unfounded, but holding us back in life.
Your ‘ropes course’ sounds amazing…..I never used to understand why corporations would send their employees on days such as this, but now I really see the value in them and it is interesting that you noticed a change in yourself throughout the day.
Louise
I love the way you write!
Burn Notice
{ 1 trackback }