Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about getting out of your comfort zone. It’s no secret that “getting out of your comfort zone” is required for growth but it’s been a while since I’ve really done just that.

I think that in general my job requires me to live in a state that probably isn’t deemed as “comfortable” at baseline (and this goes for anyone who has their own business). My job essentially rests upon whether people (you guys ;)) are interested in my content, if I’m providing enough value, interest, and entertainment simultaneously. I never know what the next month will hold–I am not guaranteed partnerships, or an income. It is different than working in the hospital or my previous 9-5 where there were more “guarantees” per-say. However, just because all those things are true doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t keep moving forward and doing things that are outside of that comfort zone.

I think sometimes when we find something that is “working for us” or “is working fine” we don’t want to mix it up. It’s like the saying, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t want to just have a life that is “fine” or “working for me.” If there is a way I can improve, get better, or grow whether it’s professionally or personally, I want to do that.

I am a firm believer that it’s the small changes we make daily and implement consistently over time that end up determining who we are.  So when you think about doing things that get you out of your comfort zone, they don’t have to be these big, monumental acts to make an impact.

Recently I’ve been trying two things in particular to get me out of my comfort zone, which is what made me think of this blog post in the first place. So, the first thing. In a nutshell, I’ve always taken photos with my iPhone for my IG and blog (which is totally fine btw)! I started this as a hobby and documenting my daily workouts and food at the time were what my blog and my IG were all about. As my brand grew and I started transitioning more into lifestyle, the comments that I’d always get about why people liked to follow along is that I’m “real” “unfiltered” “not overly curated”, etc. So overtime, I got it in my head that if I did anything to disrupt this notion that I wouldn’t be the person/brand that people gravitated to. And that is one thing I have always loved about using iPhone shots for my content–they feel real, in the moment, not overly curated. But as time went on, I wanted to elevate my brand in certain aspects, and experiment. One of the ways I wanted to do that, was taking better photos. And again, not that there is anything wrong with iPhone photos but I wanted add some higher quality images especially to my blog. Honestly, I’ve been resistant to doing this for so long (probably about a year) because I would be like “that just isn’t me,” “people like this version of Claire, not that one.” But recently a friend reminded me that change is inspiring. It wouldn’t be inspiring if everyone stayed the same. I then started thinking about it–anyone who I admire, respect and am inspired by has changed over the years; they’ve grown, they’ve evolved. So while taking more photos with my DSLR vs. an iPhone felt super uncomfortable at first, it’s something that I’ve been experimenting with and trying push myself out of my comfort zone to take things to a new place. I know it may not seem like a “big deal” or “big change” but when you change something after 5+ years, it’s a little out of your comfort zone!

The other thing is taking a day off of work each week. I want to dive into this in another blog post, but recently I started seeing a therapist that works with clients solely based off their enneagram types. Long story short, I am a type 3 (achiever–if you know, you know). IMO, it’s a blessing and a curse because I genuinely do love to work but I also will work non-stop because I feed off success and achieving. And when I get those things from working hard, I then don’t want to stop working. So as you can see, it becomes a vicious cycle. And when you have a job that has you be “on” 7 days a week from when you wake up to when you go to bed, it’s a slippery slope to say the least. So one of the things my therapist said is that as a type 3, I will actually perform better and have even more energy if I take a day off each week. She said, now I know hearing that and implementing that is going to make you very uncomfortable. And let me tell you, it did. I was literally like, not work on Saturday? WTF am I going to do with my time? Hobbies? Don’t have any. Going out with friends? Not going to happen, thanks COVID. LOL. But really, I was like WTF am I supposed to do for a whole day? But, I do trust processes and even though taking a day off feels very counterintuitive and uncomfortable, I took off this past Saturday. Let me tell you. I didn’t enjoy it; I felt unproductive vs. relaxed and the only highlight was that I almost finished a book and cleaned my closet haha. However, I am willing to try things out of my comfort zone because I know that I don’t always know best. I know that doing things outside of my status quo can be better for me in the long run than I realize in the moment. Now I can’t promise that this will happen every week, but I am going to start implementing it some 😉

Looking back, there are so many times where I’ve gone out of my comfort zone and it’s led me to where I am today. I used to feel so uncomfortable going to the gym to workout and do anything besides the treadmill, but I wanted to feel more confident in my own skin so I started doing other workouts (BBG) which then led me to start my IG. I then would feel so uncomfortable taking photos out in public, especially when I had to use my own tripod, but I did it anyway. And it got me to where I could hire a full-time IG husband to take them! 😉 Haha kidding, but you guys know what I mean. Point is, we evolve into the best version of ourselves and who we are ultimately meant to be when we step out of our comfort zones and trust the process even when it’s uncomfortable. If you guys have any stories you’d like to share about this, I’d love to hear!! xxC