Stepping Outside My Comfort Zone to Ultimately Be Nomadic

Have you ever heard the phrase “nothing grows in your comfort zone?” You may have heard it in a fitness or physical movement setting, like a class that’s getting strenuous, and the instructor shouts it for encouragement? Thinking about the physical limitations of my body and pushing outside what I thought was possible, like holding a plank for 60 seconds or squatting with heavy dumbbells, has served me really well. Applying this notion to fitness and getting comfortable being uncomfortable has paid off tremendously. You will be amazed at what you can achieve physically when you push beyond your current limitations.

Leg day always means stretching outside my comfort zone!

But what about applying this phrase to our mental limitations? Or our professional limitations? Will you truly be able to grow to your fullest potential if you aren’t being challenged? Sometimes those challenges come naturally or without having to put much thought into it. Examples of a “natural” shove outside your comfort zone could be a death in the family, a divorce, having a child, moving to a new city, getting a promotion you weren’t ready for, discovering mold in the walls of your house (shout out to Aunt Barb)… life hands you a lemon and you learn to make something out of it. Likely without knowing it, you were pushed out of your comfort zone to endure an unwanted scenario, to learn something from it, to experience a lesson.

Yay Aunt Barb! Glad your walls no longer have mold.

Think of a time you’ve encountered a scenario like those I’ve described above. How have you changed? Has your experience been one of positive growth? Or of added anxieties and fears? The way we handle situations outside of our comfort zone present an opportunity to learn, grow, and become a more stable and enlightened person.

Recently, I’ve been working on pulling myself out of my comfort zone, and I’ve been having a fun time doing it.

For example, I’ve been attempting to abolish my incessant need to plan every detail of my day and working to avoid letting my mind completely derail and unravel when plans unexpectedly change. I think this has been a general coping mechanism for when I don’t have control in other parts of my life, like in my job or relationships with my spouse, friends, family members, etc. The pandemic immediately stripped my ability to control my life; I could no longer do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it, which practically destroyed me (and countless other people who experienced 2020-2022). Right around the time the pandemic began, I started aggressively controlling what I ate to “get healthy” and lose weight. I'll talk more in depth about this in another post, but it was just one manifestation of a need for control in my life that I'm still working on overcoming.

Slowly and overtime I became neurotic about my day. Don’t get me wrong, planning can be very helpful and extremely important to adding structure to the day, getting tasks done, and keeping up with healthy habits. I certainly stand by “planning isn’t half the battle, it is the battle,” (another quote from one of my favorite fitness personalities, Autumn Calabrese), but if and when the plan changes, it’s a much more helpful approach to simply go with the flow, pivot, and change course, rather than let it completely ruin your day.

To rid myself of this anxiety, I decided to live my life as a gypsy and travel around the country staying at friends’ and families’ places or Airbnbs or hotels. As I’m writing this blog on June 16th, I do not know exactly where I’ll be sleeping on June 30th. (Yes, in 15 sleeps.) I certainly didn’t go from the neurotic planner to the nomadic roamer overnight. Gradually I put myself in situations to become less and less reliant on having a plan.

At the beginning of my journey, I would plan 3 months out, so I always knew where I’d be spending the night about 90 days in advance. That felt like a huge leap for me! That was completely out of my comfort zone back in December of 2022. But quickly, come March of 2023, that became too easy, so I started booking places 30 days out. I’d say aloud, “as long as I know where I’m staying 30 days in advance I can stay completely calm.” And here we are in June, and 15 sleeps from now I’m unsure where I’ll be sleeping.

And the impact this has had on my life? HUGE.

Being able to go with the flow of life is so freeing. Not worrying about sticking to a plan, being late, or missing out on something is a gift I’ve given to myself. And the more control I release in my life, the more the universe tends to show me signs that everything will work out perfectly.

Here are images of me from Charleston, Sarasota, presenting at a conference in Long Beach (definitely out of my comfort zone!), and in Crested Butte!

If you’re feeling stuck, I’d highly recommend figuring out where you are living too comfortably in your life, whether that’s your mental, spiritual, or physical health. If you’re stuck on how to push yourself, here are some examples:

• Being alone

  • If you are uncomfortable being alone, force yourself to experience being alone. I promise you, you will grow and change SO much! Take yourself on a date and do one of your favorite activities.

• Sitting in silence

  • Sometimes silence can be uncomfortable. If that’s true for you, then sit in it! Start small and set a timer for 5 minutes, then 10, then 15, etc. Sitting in silence can help you build a greater relationship and awareness with yourself and help identify areas in your life you could be changing or reprioritizing. It’s amazing what we can learn by turning off the external noise around us.

• Facing a fear

  • Do you have a fear of some sort? Personally, I’m horribly terrified of pigeons. Every time one gets near me, I scream or duck or do something embarrassing. Lately, I’ve been telling myself “YOU HAVE A SOUL” every time I see one, and it actually helps! Just recently, in Chicago I had three fly right at my head and I barely flinched. That’s progress! How can you face your fears? Put yourself in the uncomfortable situation on purpose and see how you grow as a result.

• Calling a friend

  • Do you ever think of someone but never reach out to tell them? I’m here to encourage you to pick up your phone and call that friend or family member that recently popped into your brain! Sometimes it can be scary to call someone out of the blue without an “appointment,” but I say, try it! You will make that person’s day, I guarantee it!

Pretending to be a bird, helps me face my fear of birds.

I am a constant work in progress, continually growing, changing, and shifting. In order to keep growing I’ve got to keep exploring outside my comfort zone, and I hope this blog inspired you to do the same!