I don’t know if I can swim.
Since learning to swim as a child, I didn’t go to a swimming pool until I had children of my own. You don’t have to swim if you have a child in your arms and you’re not going in the deep end. You can totally get away with walking.
Once they started school I didn’t go back.
But last week I joined a women’s circle for a dip in the sea.
I’d expected to go in up to my thighs but wandered in up to my neck as we all joined hands and moved around the circle before getting out.
I didn’t have to worry about swimming. I felt perfectly safe. But as this will not be my last dip I’m thinking I could do with finding out if I can actually still swim.. I should at least get a float of some sort.
Stepping out of your comfort zone can be a bit scary, but just like dipping in the sea, it’s much easier if you’re surrounded by a team of people who have your back.
Stepping out of your comfort zone can look like going deeper into the sea than you thought. It can also be hard things you do in your business like…
- Going live on your page.
- Running a challenge.
- Launching a new offer.
- Telling people what you have available.
- Digging into your brand when you don’t have a clue what you’re doing.
- Coming up with ideas.
- Creating new graphics.
- Getting stuck in Canva.
- Attending a networking event. For the first time or the 50th time.
- Working out what your values are.
- Trying to make clarity out of chaos.
- Creating content.
- Planning the next quarter.
- Starting a Podcast.
- Creating a survey.
- Planning a website.
- Creating a video.
None of these examples are easy if you’re not used to them. Or even if you are. What seems easy to you might seem hard to someone else.
Doing the hard things is often worth it. Stepping out of your comfort zone is – in fact – where the magic happens. There is something special about doing something that pushes you a bit, that feeling afterwards when you realise what you did!
Have you ever done that exercise where you put your arm behind you and see how far it will go, then visualise it going a bit further and the next time you try you can go a little bit more? When you push, when you try, you get that bit further on. Further forward – closer to those goals you want to reach.
Branding is all about where you’re headed. What your vision and mission are, what you are hoping to achieve, who you’re hoping to sell to, how you want to be perceived… it’s about stepping forward into the best version of yourself and expanding to meet those goals. Tiny steps, one foot in front of the other, creating a map to get you to your destination. Making an impact. Stretching that comfort zone just a little bit more each day.
Figuring out what you need to get to where you want to be and just going for it.
Moving forward a little more each time.
You’ll want to keep a foot in your comfort-zone, but as you know – the things that got you to where you are won’t get you to where you want to be… so you’ll need to try new things, and new can be scary.
Different levels of scary. Sometimes you’re just a little bit nervous, sometimes you want to throw up. There’s a sliding scale. You don’t HAVE to jump right in at being sick levels. Not every time anyway – but those things may be the fastest route to progress… if I’d only gone part way into the sea last week I’d not have felt as good afterwards. I went in further than I thought I could – but you don’t walk into the sea and you’re up to your neck right away, you have to wade that far starting with your toes. It’s one step after the other.
Recently I spoke in one of my groups about going live and creating video. It really is just practice that will get you to a place of confidence – but it’s so much easier now with stories and reels to start small and build up. Go in with your toes and build up your confidence. Working on your brand bravery will speed that process up – it’s so much easier to find confidence to be visible when you have clarity in what you’re about.
It’s also easier when you have people around you who get it, who have your back and who want you to succeed.
Who’s around you when you’re stepping out of your comfort zone?
You’re invited to join my group: Brand Bravery for Adventurous Business Owners.
For even more support, ask me about the Brand Success Club.
Amy Purdie, The Brand Explorer takes you on an Adventure to discover what your brand is all about, helping you with your brand strategy, brand visuals and content ideas. You can join Amy’s Brand Success Club or join her in your very own Private Brand Adventure.
Amy has been enjoying designing logos, brand identities, illustration, print work and websites – since 2007 fuelled mainly by tea and chocolate.