This week has been embellished with a series of tests. Don’t get me wrong, that is actually a good thing! I joined a week-long exercise of daily challenges designed to push me out of the familiar and cushy comfort zone I prefer to stay in.
Making changes in life is what I’m coaching and promoting, so to be timid about doing that for myself is unacceptable. Despite being a trained life coach and mentor, my habits have been to stay in the background. We really need to push ourselves beyond those comfort zones after years of repeated habits have firmly cemented them in place.
The overall challenge for the week is to get out in the world and share. Share messages of love, truth and perseverance. And so, Comfort Zone, step aside!
When at first you don’t succeed …
The challenge journey began with the requirement to present a livestream message on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube.
I suspect our mentor selected this for the first day challenge to truly test our commitment to personal growth. I was really conflicted. It was the first day and I could just walk away instead of subjecting myself to being embarrassed, but my pride argued otherwise.
I joined a training about six months earlier specifically for learning how to present Facebook Live videos and be more comfortable doing it. In all honesty, I was never comfortable and didn’t continue practicing, but I knew this was something I needed to overcome.
First, I did a “test run” pulling from that earlier training and, much to my surprise, discovered horizontal video no longer work. I was sideways!! I searched online and the instructions for rotating a video no longer work – leave it to Facebook to remove a popular feature.
Starting over, I resisted the temptation to use a script – those videos never are natural, so they fail to connect with our audience. I decided to speak about gratitude and appreciating the positives in life. I believe the point of this day’s challenge was to understand that whatever the quality of the outcome, you prove to yourself you can do it – and I did! But I really hope to figure out a way to post a horizontal video.
Sharing some love …
It was a surprise to discover the day two challenge was not another video, as I’d expected. Instead the assignment was to connect with a mentor or someone we admire and respect and send a thank you for what they have meant in your life.
Isn’t it interesting that often we assume the very people we revere are so busy we shouldn’t interrupt them? Here I am, a person who claims to have a core value of gratitude and I have not shared how grateful I am for much of the training, coaching and challenges my mentors have given me!
In itself, that realization was eye-opening and I will make this simple gesture a regular practice. I chose to message a coach my daughter and I had worked with earlier in the year. I simply shared with her how valuable her training was for us and we appreciate her. Her response was instant, and I think it made her day!
Chutzpah!!
The third day’s challenge was a new experience and definitely met the intension of pushing me to a higher level: “Write to The Huffington Post or other media outlet and ask to be a contributor.” OMG!!
To be clear, I wrote and self-published a romantic comedy on Kindle five years ago, but that was silly stuff, not personal or anything intended to be impactful. I started by looking for places to submit an article and finally selected 1000 Awesome Things which has an interesting mixture of topics. The blog owner publishes a single thing a day and then compiles submitted articles to publish a book and gives credit to each contributor.
My submission presented an important lesson I learned during my certification to teach the Success Principles. This was the first thing taught in that training – Take 100% Responsibility. It sounds simple, but we all find a way to make excuses or blame others when things in our lives don’t turn out well.
Here is the simple formula: The Event + Your Response = The Outcome. An example given during the training was a look at different possible outcomes when someone receives a bonus. One person goes to Las Vegas to play and spends it all. The other person puts the funds in a college fund for their child. At the end of a year, the first person has nothing to show and may not even recall much about their trip. The second person can see the college fund has grown for their child. When we apply the simple concept of E + R = O we can grow and live with fewer regrets about our decisions.
Finally, a comfort zone…
And now today, Day 4 Challenge is to publish a post on my blog or social media about the challenges I’ve completed this week. First of all, I am grateful that I finished that first day’s challenge, so I could rightfully be here today knowing I am pushing myself beyond my comfort zone and taking ownership of my visibility – exactly as the series of challenges was intended.
This is my fulfillment of that challenge and I am grateful to you, my friends and followers. I would enjoy your comments, encouragement and connecting with you.
