Ray Lewis says “Before anything great is really achieved, your comfort zone must be disturbed.” The Ageing Millennial finally tackle the "Leaving Your Comfort Zone" concept in this episode covering:
I am confident you'll gain the confidence to start taking baby steps towards leaving your comfort zone and eventually start living a happy and fulfilled life ready for all knowns and unknowns.
I finish the episode on a light-hearted note with an interesting fact on the ACTUAL purpose of rollercoasters.
As always, remember to Subscribe, Rate & Review and Share with Your Family & Friends.
Ray Lewis says “Before anything great is really achieved, your comfort zone must be disturbed.” The Ageing Millennial finally tackle the "Leaving Your Comfort Zone" concept in this episode covering:
I am confident you'll gain the confidence to start taking baby steps towards leaving your comfort zone and eventually start living a happy and fulfilled life ready for all knowns and unknowns.
I finish the episode on a light-hearted note with an interesting fact on the ACTUAL purpose of rollercoasters.
As always, remember to Subscribe, Rate & Review and Share with Your Family & Friends.
Yo, what's up, everyone?
Hope all of you are doing. Well. Thank you so much for the love. You showed me in the last four weeks. I've had over 500 downloads on all the episodes and I wasn't expecting that much. So thank you. So so so much.
So, I'll dive straight into the topic today. And the topic for today is about comfort zone. So I'll explain a bit about what Comfort zones are, why getting out of it is essential some examples of getting out of your comfort zone based on my personal experience, how it's helped me.
Then obviously tips on where to start from. So how can you start getting out of your comfort zone and then what to expect in the process as well? It's not easy as it sounds. You know, it's a word or a concept talked about a lot in the media.
Be it on the TV, be it, social media, beaten therapy.
So I think it's quite important to cover this topic and perhaps it motivates you to start taking some action towards a happier. And a life you want. And then as always, I've changed the format of the episode. Following on from last week and I'll finish off the episode with some light-hearted stuff. So
What is a comfort zone? So comfort zone is something where one feels comfortable or is that he's is a psychological state, in which things seem familiar person at the person perceives that they are in their commitment that they are in control of their environment. And then they experience manageable levels of anxiety and stress as well. So in simple words or in layman terms, it's when you're comfortable. About where you are in life, so, it's about your routine life. You know, you're happy to job.
You're happy and how you deal with people, you're happy with your friendships. You're happy with the shows you watch you happy with the route to take to work. You're comfortable in with your surroundings. You're comfortable. We where you live.
And but you have the same fears, you have the same habits, you're in the same relationships.
So even if you have toxic friends, you're still friends with them. Toxic family members.
You have the same habit. Your thinking is very much the same.
Your career veg is very much the same. Your you dressing is very similar manner. So I think that would that's how I would describe a comfort zone in the simplest terms.
Now a quote by Ray Lewis, he said that before, anything is really achieved your comfort zone.
Must be disturbed and another quote from by Mark Burnett.
I will guarantee you that the day, you step outside your comfort zone by making success. Your goal is that it is a day, you discovered that versity risk and daring will make life sweeter than you ever imagined.
And I think it's quite essential, especially are covered. These covered these points in a psyche more detail. Once I give my experiences of what getting off your comfort zone may look like so. You know, I alluded to this in one of my initial episodes on doing things alone. And the way I got out of my comfort zone is, you know, I took a solo trip for the first time. I went to Jordan. I went to a friend's wedding in Egypt all by myself. I knew no one there. And that was really getting me out of my comfort zone because I was used to be with friends going on trips with friends attending wedding things where I knew other people far from the bride and groom, obviously. So you're really making me get out my comfort zone. Another one is when I lived in Russia for about nine months in my early twenties.
I know I knew no one firstly there was, you know, a communication barrier with with the Russians at my workplace. So it was hard somewhat or somewhat difficult socializing with them. So what I did was I searched for events for expats online. I came across this famous. I wouldn't say. Yeah, I would say expat group but its present in many many countries including Pakistan in the UK is inter Nations. So the bring together Expats in different cities and I attended an International Event in Moscow. I knew no one. I knew no one that was going, but I still, you know, went to this house party and met completely new people.
Another example from my workplace is my primary experience of my expertise is in marketing strategy and insights. However, I wanted to learn about other parts of the business. And hence. I took a project in finance completely alien to me. I didn't know what, for example, a beat element, you know, earnings before interest and tax. So that's my financial knowledge kick in. So I took a project with You know, Financial project outside my core responsibilities and roll. I, you know, I was scared of heights. I went or I trekked to base camp, one of non Gerber, but which is the eighth highest mountain in the world.
And it's a mountain range or to Mountain in Pakistan. So I do the tracking, one way to talk about six hours, but I still did it that we took me out of my comfort zone had to walk over. Glaciers had to walk on. Bloody. You do a steep, you know, walk by steep Cliffs. Where if I took the wrong step, I would be in the in the river and probably wouldn't be here giving you a podcast another way, you know, I it's dirty easy. is but other ways to get in my comfort zone, and this might sound very basic, but is, you know, selecting selecting a tight driving spot to park into now, you know, that's really
I hate parking and I'm not sure if any of you like it but selecting a very tight spot and testing my driving skills, really got out of my comfort zone because you know, increase my anxiety levels. It was foreign to me it I had to bring it, bring a new skill. I have to think differently about how to park. So that was really me. That's what is that experience is really, really getting me out of my comfort zone in the driving way of things.
Then when I was I think about 14 when I was living in Switzerland.
I never had Camp before, and I never had a bite over. I would say, even 20 kilometers in a stretch. So, me and a group of friends. We went to a camp site.
In France was the think about two hundred kilometers away. And we camped there. So that was really that know. I really, really stepped out of a comfort zone especially that age without my parents being there. Never have ridden a bike for more than twenty kilometers in a stretch and never had an account before as well. When I started my Youtube channel with the with the with one of my best friends, we we were finding a video editor, and I took on the video editing responsibility in the end, because I wanted to learn about it. And that gave me a sense of a bit of sense of control as well and avoided the whole briefing process to another personal power British be. So I just took the responsibility myself.
And that get that really got out of that.
Got me out of my comfort zone because I Never Had video edited before and it was something new to me virtual dating.
So in the covid X, obviously you couldn't meet anyone face to face. So just taking, you know, this is a great example of you getting out of your comfort zone.
So instead of having a face-to-face reaction, you you know, you opt for virtual dating another one, you know, going on holiday with someone, you know, completely new. Or a person you've known for less than a year.
I want to know how you are with someone recently.
And honestly, it was probably one of the best holidays ever, and our friendship even grew stronger.
Um, and then I'll getting over comfort zone.
Is also another. Another good example is, you know, going to relationship. So, for example, for commitment-phobe or your responsibility fold, you haven't really had any stable long term which has been in many stable relationships. It's, you know, or your past relationships have been very different and and, you know, there is a new relationship in front of you a new person, you know, which might be better for you, but then you're the voice. In your head is telling you you know, you know, this is not who you usually go for. This is really out of your comfort zone, but you still go for it. So that's really stepping out of your comfort zone as well.
How does it help me? So my experiences that I just referred to help helped me enormously.
So first he's helped me with my self-esteem. Now, I believe in myself more, definitely going for that solar trip. Definitely going for that.
House party in Moscow. I'm meeting new people. I definitely felt good about myself in terms of no damn, you know, I am capable of doing this. I'm capable of taking that solar trip by myself and actually enjoying it. I'm capable of meeting new people in a completely foreign city where I know no one and you know in the end I made some really good friends me trekking to base camp of nanga parbat. That really made me fear my fear of heights that really made me deal. Sorry deal with my fear of heights and we emphasise reinforced that you know, I'm capable of
You do not falling down the cliff and I'm capable of doing this hiking regardless of how dangerous it is.
Obviously, that doesn't mean that I'm going to start. I'm going to track Mount Everest or K2, but, you know, it's still a start.
So it gave me that confidence that, you know, fear of heights is all in my head. I still managed to get to base camp one without any injury without any mishap.
I was safe.
I was well, I was fine. I could definitely do it again. So I'm not sure how many of you know that but I'm, I struggle when it comes to parking so selecting tight spots to park in two and then getting out of them afterwards makes me feel good, you know, makes me feel like I'm not that bad of a driver. I do have the driving skill, which needs a bit exercising, which means it's strengthening.
And these kind of situations house me, you know, helps me strengthened that driving ability of my so and also also will save me from embarrassment in the future. Where I go with a group of friends or family and I'm required to park in a tight spot. I know that I could do it. So kind of save me. Save me from embarrassment. The future is well. Hopefully I'm going on on holiday with with with a new friend or a person. I've just got to know me know. She shows me the to help me build a really strong relationship with that person a really strong friendship with that person. So I don't hesitate on going on holiday with people. I don't really know. Well because it could always be fun. I'm gonna hide it with people I've known for years and sometimes it's be the worst holiday of my life.
So, you know, it doesn't mean that, you know, staying in your comfort zone.
Staying with the same friends and doing activities with the same group of people can't get boring. And if you don't take that step you wouldn't know better.
Otherwise, you know, going going dating a person who might not be similar to who you've dated in. The past is a good thing.
It doesn't mean that is going to be successful or ends in a relationship.
And ends in a successful relationship, but it does kind of highlight the things about another person.
You are accepting to you. Like, you don't like and you need, you get to see a different perspective as well. So really helps. You develop your idea of
A different idea of what the other person or what kind of person you want to end up with. So you may have not known something because you've been dating some, some very similar people in the past. You date, someone new, you realize that oh, shit, you know, I've never realized that actually. I would actually like this in the relationship but I like this about that person. I really and I think, you know, that person may I add a different perspective, my life. So that's really getting out of your comfort zone, which results in something, which is value-adding and which you may have never thought about before, you know taking on the finance project early on in my career gave me exposure to a different department and
A different project of a different nuance and it made me realize that I bloody hate finance and that's not a career that I will pursue and I don't want to pursue. So I got to my comfort zone, but it helped me realize, you know, this isn't for me.
If I hadn't done that, that may have always been in the back of my mind that, oh, shit. I should have done that or I wished.
I work in different department that I might have been somewhere else in my career, but having done there earlier in my life, or what?
Never point.
The point of realization is the strongest one because once you realize something, then, you know, there's no going back and it gives you a different perspective as well.
and you know something else, you know, it's getting your hair cut where you know, you've maintained the same style for the past couple of years, you know, and and getting any haircut or getting a wardrobe change, you know, makes you realize, oh shit, you know, I actually look better than what I used to before or you know, it makes me look a bit younger or makes me look more mature, whatever floats your boat but getting out for that, you know, the routine haircut or the routine start of Nothing can result is something in something better. So now you folks might be questioning or might be thinking. You know, where do I start from?
So I have always done. I've done the mistake in my life.
Where I would go big? So meaning, you know, give me getting my comfort zone. If I'm scared of heights that say I would always think you know. I shit. I should kind of go to Everest base camp and that helped me and is conquer my fear of heights. Or I should go bungee jumping ring or I should a skydiving. Fine. You know that. My rocker ball. But I've realized that if you go too big and that crystal anxiety, a lot of pressure on you, there's a higher probability of you backing off in the future. So my advice is start small. If you. If you're scared of heights, you start by maybe climbing the ladder and doing it over time. Maybe go to the roof of your house, or, you know, maybe go to terrorists and start looking down.
And do this every day and hopefully, you know, you start conquering your, you know, you start stepping out of your comfort zone. That's the first thing you're doing which is successful. And the second is, you might start a conquering your fear of some sort over time. If you're if you're scared of spiders and you have a phobia of spiders, perhaps you don't start going to. I wouldn't I don't have the zoo is the right word because Zoo for me is where you have the bigger animals, but maybe an insect. Insect zoo and you know, start, you know, start seeing spiders, you might start getting acquainted to them. And then if there's a spider in front of you don't freak out. You don't have to go close to it. You don't have to touch it. You don't have to pick it. You don't have to eat it shorty, but you know, just
Tell yourself, you know, everything's fine. I'm bigger than the spider.
It's not going to do anything to me.
And that's how you start getting out of your comfort zone.
When you start challenging yourself. You start challenging the voices in your head. You start challenging your old mindset.
If you're, if you're if you're scared if networking at work or networking in general, isn't your thing, you know, for example, if I hadn't gone to that intonations event in Moscow, I wouldn't have made the great friends. I have to I wouldn't have, I would have had a pretty shit life in Moscow, primarily stuck at home. I wouldn't have seen Moscow as I did with these people.
So me really forcing myself to go to this event resulted in me. Me making good friends and seeing the city with others as well. So, definitely paid off for the better.
For example, YouTube if I hadn't taken on the video editing responsibility, which I never knew about and which wasn't reading my comfort zone. Me forcing myself to start editing those videos. Get me a new skill.
So now I find easier to edit YouTube videos. And even now editing a podcast.
I didn't even think of hiring someone else because I knew added, I had the capability of editing a YouTube video and I could surely transfer that skill to the podcast audio as well.
Dating, as I said it resulted in me, you know, the whole virtual dating thing really resulted in me being comfortable with speaking.
To people, either face-to-face or in a different setting. So, you know me really getting in my comfort zone. Something, you know, dating version virtually is very unusual and still unusual for many.
But, you know, still gave me that skill set that, you know, dating is possible virtually.
So why not give it a try in the end. I realized that I didn't really enjoy it. But at least I tried it out. At least, I saw that side of dating and it really helped me that face-to-face, as more what I like.
Because in the end, you know, if you don't push yourself, no one will.
You need to drive your, you need to deal with your insecurities slowly?
You need to deal with what's what's foreign to you, slowly? At least experienced it at least experienced it. And if you don't like it, maybe try to second time.
And if you really think in the end that this is not really helping me.
And this isn't really what I'm comfortable with that. That's fine. You don't have to press yourself in doing it.
But honestly, sometimes or usually I would say that as stepping out of your of routine life or stepping out of what you're used to really does help you develop as a person and develop professionally and develop your wellbeing as well. It leaves you in a much, much, much, happier place and only and I just forgot to mention that when I went camping and cycling, I realize a fine the citing. I love biking. I love, but capping is definitely definitely not for me. Hence I haven't been to any music festivals. I haven't you know. Didn't go to the likes of Glastonbury or tomorrow, tomorrowland. Just because of the camping element.
But I have heard that these faces.
There's glamping, So Glamorous camping with proper toilets, proper beds and everything. So I might consider it, you know, might consider it. So you don't clamping might be, might be a think more suitable to me. I'm more suitable for you as well.
So, what to expect, obviously, with all these things, as I said, you feel like you're, you know, the inner voice gets stronger, your anxiety levels increase. You feel very uncomfortable and, you know, you would experience discomfort at first. So, for example, when I, when I am exposed to high places where I have to deal with my fear of heights, my legs start shaking. I start sweating, but I keep telling myself, you know.
You know, I have gone to I have done hiking. I was fine. I've never had an incident of falling over a cliff or falling or a ladder or anything. So, you know, I start dealing with that discomfort. It's not an overnight process. It does take time. So, you know, keep exposing yourself to that situation if that's a fear. You truly want to overcome, as I said, you realize what's for you and what isn't for you, you know, in this process when you get Out of your comfort zone when you're doing things differently, when you do different things, if you take a different role, for example, if you worked in marketing and you cross over to finance or vice versa or cross over to the regulatory Department, you know, your brain is kind of rewiring itself and and and trying to adjust to this new environment, to the new ways of working to new learning.
And in the end, you know, you will acquire a new skill set. So dip your time, give your brain some time to rewire to really adapt to the situation, to readapt the new skill and over time. It starts getting embedded in your subconscious and your brain becomes more and more comfortable with it, you know, be aware of what you're doing and that you are getting out of your comfort zone and start and, you know, once you're aware of the results. You're getting out of it. It kind of reinforces either. You know, I'm doing great. And this is for me or this isn't for me, and I'm happy. I tried it out at least, don't listen to her voice. It's crap.
I'm honestly going to have a completely different episode for this inner voice crap, this inner worth shit, but don't listen to this voice.
So that kind of brings us to end. I just don't know where the time goes at times.
It's been 23 minutes already.
But this kind of brings us.
This brings us to the end of the comfort zone debate. And obviously there's more rounded, but you know, I'm going to re-quote what I quoted in. The beginning is before anything. Great is really achieved your comfort zone, must be disturbed. So hopefully, you know, it gives you this episode gives you some food for thought and some ways of how you can start getting out of your comfort zone. It doesn't have to be big, start small and hopefully, hopefully, hopefully, you start seeing results and you become happier, and you start achieving things in life as well.
So, ending the episode.
I'm going to, I will share a myth.
And a weird fact as well, which are quite interesting for me. So I recently visited a Ford visited afford in a name was dawn called the the robber for it. And it's it's it's it's in ruins is deteriorating. So when I entered, I saw, I saw shit everywhere. And I heard animal noises as well. I couldn't spot the animals. So I was quite curious to where it was. So I walked the Fort and I started hearing some weird sounds from the room. I went into the room and I saw the room full of bats for the bats. It did scare me. And and that and the just think that kind of brought me to brought that. And I'm sure a lot of you may have heard of it. But you know that bats are blind.
And I believe this my whole life, I never did my own research and actually then, you know, did some research are bats actually blind.
So the conclusion is that they see in black and white so they're not blind. And they have better Vision than humans at night.
The reason why this myth of rows is that their daylight vision is poor poor and they have something called sonar or sonor which helps them to navigate with helps them to navigate in in the presence of phenotype having poor sight in daylight.
So no bats are blind, and bats have better Vision than us in the nighttime.
And for all you roller coaster or amusement park enthusiasts, I love roller coasters myself.
And I always thought, you know, that roller coasters were built for excitement for pleasure. And you know that whole Adrenaline Rush thing, but no they weren't.
So roller coaster designed to keep Americans away from sin. In the 1880s, a businessman called Lamarcus Thompson. He designed the roller coaster, very first roller coaster on Coney Island in New York, and he designed it to keep Americans away from from Evil, places in quotation, marks like saloons and brothels.
So he so he thought that, you know, by having a roller coaster, people would with people's attention would be diverted from these places of sin and, you know, it gives some New Yorkers, some good fun, some clean fun, and a way, you know, from in quotation marks sinful past times. So I just thought that was interesting. I never knew that about roller coasters and why they were designed in the first place, but now, I know. And they really originally designed to keep People away from sin. So thank you very much. Everyone for tuning in and listening to my podcast, the Aging lineal. As always, subscribe, rate and review and rating review is very very important. It it, you know, it makes it helped my podcast be listened to by more people around the world.
And apart from that, please share the podcast with your family and friends as well. Have a good week. Have a good have a good week and have have fun at work. Keep listening to my podcast and do also give me feedback on what you thought of this episode and what other topics you would like covered as well. Thank you very much.
Ciao.