Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

“Change comes with sacrifice... When you want to make a change you must be prepared to make a sacrifice of escaping the comfort zone!” 
― Israelmore Ayivor, The Great Hand Book of Quotes

For those that have been watching our events list, you'll be aware that I gave a presentation this weekend at FEI Eclipse alongside very intelligent speakers and fitness professionals.  If not, well, I gave a presentation this weekend in NYC on motor learning, coaching and cueing.  

All of us at AMP know that I am not the most outspoken person, nor would you describe me as extroverted.  
The running joke around AMP is that I don't talk or use my words often.
If you've seen the board in the back the past few weeks, Mike and Adam have been giving me words of the day to say 10 times to get me to say more. 

So its not a surprise when I tell you that standing up in front of a conference, albeit 10-15 people is not only nerve racking for me, but it takes me so far outside of my comfort zone that I'm uncomfortable.  And that is the sacrifice I have to make in order to change or to make a change.

Not only do I want to make a change for myself, but I want to be a part of a wave of change in the fitness industry itself.  I don't want to be in fear of speaking in front of groups, because ultimately I want to be able to do that, to teach, to educate.  Me speaking and presenting information at these events helps educate trainers in a largely uneducated field.  

So the quote above really speaks to me.  Because I have all these "outside goals" past AMP, I have to change, I have to adapt, I have to be willing to put in effort, I have to sacrifice my own comfort level to be a part of the bigger picture.  My comfort level is either staying introverted like you probably see at AMP, but its all hiding behind my keyboard.  If you read these emails and blog posts and articles that I write, you see I have no problem with words.  But that's typing, not speaking.  It's very easy for me to write, in fact it comes pretty natural to me.  But that can only accomplish my goals only so much.

So what does all this have to do with you?  

We all have goals, we all have aspirations, but we all also hide in our comfort zones.  How often have you found yourself staying in a comfort zone out of fear of the unknown, out of fear of what could happen?  Making a change, whether its attaining life goals or health/fitness goals requires some sort of sacrifice to get out of your comfort zone.  

It could be your uncomfortable with that out of breath feeling, or from having to give up control if even only for an hour, or uncomfortable with sweating, or lifting, or even just being uncomfortable with not excelling at something.  Maybe your comfort zone is staying with a so-so diet because getting out of it and starting a healthy nutrition plan is foreign and scary.  

Change is scary, change is foreign, change requires sacrifice. But if you really want to change, I'm telling you to get out of your comfort zone, because in the end, the results, the feeling of satisfaction will be worth it.