Are You Ready to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone?
You want to start your own business. You have created a useful product and want to get it on the shelves. You have always wanted to be your own boss.
There are many things you will need to figure out and do to make that happen. But no matter your business model, one thing is accurate for every budding entrepreneur or a small business owner.
To get your business off the ground, and run and grow the company, you most certainly will be required to do things you have never done before. In other words:
You will have to leave your comfort zone on a regular basis.
And we all know that can be scary. Young children do not understand the concept of comfort zones and therefore don’t create them. They are constantly learning, experimenting, facing rejection, and moving forward. Has any toddler accepted “No” on the first go-round? Of course, not. As adults, we build a comfort zone because we crave safety, security, and even peace of mind. We establish the rules of our comfort zone. We choose to follow those rules and build the walls of that Comfort Zone.
Let’s look at common beliefs about our Comfort Zones:
First, we believe the Comfort Zone protects us rather than imprisons us.
Second, we believe the Comfort Zone is our friend instead of our enemy.
When our self-limiting beliefs become our truths, we stay in our Comfort Zone.
We inadvertently create a self-limiting mindset, which is diametrical to an entrepreneurial mindset. We focus on what we can’t do instead of what we will do.
We start saying things to ourselves, such as:
My idea is not good enough
There is too much competition
I don’t know enough
I am not smart enough
I don’t have a college degree.
When our self-limiting beliefs become our truths, we stay in our Comfort Zone.
It is essential to know you don’t have to move out of your Comfort Zone; just get out of the neighborhood regularly. Commit to attending two networking events a week and talk to at least five people at each event for longer than 3 minutes. If you are afraid of public speaking, join Toastmasters or raise your hand at a meetup. If a prospective client says “no,” ask a follow-up question to find out why. Then overcome the objection or at least learn from the interaction and do better next time.
You can return to your Comfort Zone occasionally, but you cannot allow yourself to stay there. Start with small steps done consistently. It gets easier, and the steps get bigger the more you step out. We realize “it didn’t kill us,” so we get braver each time. As our courage grows, so does our confidence. Moving out of your comfort zone will expose you to new thinking, growth opportunities, and business exposure. Start today.
