Remember the article I wrote a while back called Stop Thinking You’re Not Good Enough? Well if you haven’t had the chance to read it, I would love for you to take a look. I have been trying to involve more personal posts on bbproductreviews especially when my mind just wants to explode and so many things are running through it. The last few days I have been thinking about how much we let fear get the best of us and keep us from pursuing some of our biggest dreams.
I’ve always been sort of a reserved person and kept so many thoughts and visions to myself. My blog has been a great outlet for me to express myself in ways I would have never done with friends, family, or strangers. There are so many things I want for my life and business but have been too afraid to do. Stepping outside of your comfort zone can be so hard especially when it’s so comfy.
Below are a few things that I have come up with just as a reminder to myself that change begins in me and fear is a hindrance to both my blessings and the person on the receiving end. Hopefully it will not only help me, but help others to step out of their comfort zone.
Just do it: Don’t think about what will happen if you fail, think about the bigger picture. What will happen if you don’t try? Chances are, things will stay the same if you continue to sit idle in your situation. You can’t expect change to happen if you aren’t willing to make the necessary steps to make your dreams happen. Fear can get the best of us all, but don’t let it consume you. Push through the fear and step out of your comfort zone!
Think positive thoughts: Fill your mind and atmosphere with positive thoughts and actions. Don’t allow negative thoughts to even enter your mind. When a thought of you can’t do this enters, say to yourself, how can I make this happen? Then put it into action!
Surround yourself with positive people: Often times it’s the people we hang around or surround ourselves with that we allow to deter us from our goals and dreams (notice I said, we allow).
Stop playing the blame game: We can be our own worst enemy. When we realize that the solution to a problem or circumstance starts with us and to simply stop blaming others, we can start to see change.
Lastly…..
Stay Focused: If you are truly passionate about the things you want to do in life, remained focused. It’s easy to fall off course and falling down is never easy. It’s important to remember that we all fall sometimes but our focus can either weaken, diminish, or strengthen. Allow your focus to be stronger than ever in the times you feel the weakest. This is when some of our best work and ideas catch on fire!
Everyone has their own special gifts and things they are good at. Don’t let yours go to waste. There is a whole world of people out there that are waiting to see you succeed. You never know who’s life you can (and are supposed to) touch. It’s time to get out of our comfort zone!
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This is such an encouraging post! Thanks for sharing. My hubby and I have made it a goal to be more positive lately – about ourselves and others. We can be so negative-minded – it can be our comfort zone. It makes a difference to us, and to the people we’re around (like you said) when we are positive!
Glad I can be of encouragement!
This is right where I am! Fear is so crippling. I have to read your post stop thinking you are not good enough. What I tell myself fuels my fears. Thanks for the encouragement to get out of my comfort zone! Comfort is stagnant! I want life!
Thanks for the kind words Kelly. Glad my post can help others.
You’re so right about fear crippling us if we let it. Your list of suggestions for getting the job done are spot on, too. Personally, I have a lot of trouble staying focused. I think I know what I want, but when it comes time to put the work in to make it happen, I’m not so sure it will be worth it. I need to Just Do It!
I really like your blog design, too. Very pretty!
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You hit the nail on the head two times in this article for me, they REALLY rang home.
The frist thing is the point of “Just do it!” This is absolutely needed and I wish more people would have this mindset! All it takes is those three words to make anything happen.
The second item you mention is the point of staying focused. This is absolutely critical in becoming successful in anything if you ask me.
What I do, when I feel like productivity is sliding, is that I realize I am losing focus. So I’ll detach myself from what I am doing, do something COMPLETELY different, and then come back later with a fresh set of eyes.
Works every time!
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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Thanks for the encouragement! I’ve been running across a lot of these types of posts lately, and I think I’m supposed to be learning something. I do think most of us need the daily (or sometimes hourly!) reminder to think positive and to stop holding ourselves back. Great post! 🙂
There have been so many time I have let fear keep me from doing something I’ve wanted to. I find that when I do step outside of my comfort zone, surround myself with positive people and don’t give up that I can do more than I ever thought I would. I took my first step outside of my comfort zone by signing up for the commentathon. It wasn’t easy, it never is, but it is worth it.
You have great points! I have so many ideas about things that I don’t do simply because I’m afraid to fail or I’m afraid of what other people think. I’ve been doing a bit better with the negative self-talk and trying to be more positive, but it is hard at times. I feel that my blog (even though I just started!) is going to be a great outlet for me. I have already posted a few things that I wouldn’t normally feel confident about and the feedback has been awesome. Thanks for the encouragement and reminders!!!!
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This is something I’ve been working on lately – leaving my comfort zone. I’ve also been trying to gently lead my children to do the same things. I’ve been showing them the amazing things they do when they push themselves a little to do/be different. Thank you for this encouraging post.
Solid advice and good motivation. You gotta do things you want to do before it’s too late! I think when people look back on their lives they regret the things they didn’t do more than the things they did. It’s good to be reminded to put ourselves out there more!
Thanks for the motivational pick me up! These are DEFINITELY things I need to remind myself of – usually on a daily basis! My biggest problem is thinking too much. I let the negative self-talk invade too often, which can get me to feeling down about myself and stop forward movement on projects and things that I talk myself out of. One step in the right direction is that I finally started my own blog this year – something I had been thinking about for almost two years, and even planning in the background for a full year. What was stopping me? I don’t know – but I took your Just Do It advice and gave it a go in January. Thanks for the blog post. I’m leaving with warm, fuzzy, positive thoughts right now 🙂
This is such an encouraging post. I am my own worst critic and think negatively about everything. I think in order to get some peace in my own life, I need to switch to positive thoughts and surround myself with encouraging, supportive and positive people.
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Great post! You are so right. It is so easy to let fear consume us. Just this last week I fell of the wagon of healthy eating and am now worried I have sabotaged the progress I had made thus far. But, tomorrow is a new day and I plan to get right back on and go until my goal and keep on keeping on!
Great, sound advice! Well written motivation…thank you!
I have been trying to live by the saying “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Often times this means stepping out of my comfort zone and pushing myself to do things that are not comfortable. Thanks for the encouraging post.
Love your recommendations! I have thought a lot of being positive myself lately. I used to be SUCH a positive person. But there has to be a way of balancing the challenges we endure with staying positive…at the same time. Something to think on!
There are such true tips. Especially the one about surrounding yourself with positive people! I have some negative co-workers and if I’m not careful, they drag me down. It took me a long time to realize that. I can’t do anything about who I work with, but I now make I seek out positive friends when I am not at work.
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I don’t like being outside my comfort zone. It’s nice and cozy in my little safety net. But I’ve been pushing my boundaries and trying harder to get outside my comfort zone. I never thought I’d move away from my hometown but I did it. Then I moved again a little farther away. My next goal is to get out and meet more like-minded people.
Over all I tend to be a positive person. I happen to share a place with a “negative Nancy” which can be hard. I’ve done what I can to help her see the positive but it’s hard because of mental health issues she has. The tips you list are practical and will help with stepping out of the comfort zone that I tend to put myself in as well.
This is something I have been really trying to do the last 10 years. It is really scary to step out of your comfort zone, but when you do and accomplish something positive, it is a wonderful feeling. It gives you more confidence and a desire to do good things. I have a hard time when I talk to people about something and they say “I don’t do that.” Why would you limit yourself? New things are not easy, but so worthwhile. Thank you for sharing something I feel strongly about
You’re reading my mind, Bertha. Staying focused, going for it instead of just visualizing it and most importantly surrounding myself with positive people has been on my wish list as long as I remember. It’s hard but not impossible 🙂
Very thoughtful post. I started my blog over six years ago as the one place that would be a positive place to visit. It was an especially rough time, but Buttercupland was a place outside of the troubles I was experiencing. I have met wonderful and upbeat people — and unexpected and happy outcome.
I liked what you said, “change begins with me and fear is a hindrance to both my blessings and the person on the receiving end” Everyone has fear to one degree or another when they try to do something new. Recognizing that helps me to try new, difficult things. Without trying new things you don’t become a better person and don’t receiving the blessings. Thank you for your encouragement. I am working on being more positive and looking at the good outcomes from the hard things I try.
Run with your strengths! And never be afraid to try new things. If you don’t think you’re good enough, then learn more so that you will be. But you will never know til you try, right? Two years ago my sister and I began to write our first cookbook – something we had long wanted to do. I’m so glad we did! We learned so much through the process, and we also have this awesome 100+ recipe cookbook to our names. There were many times during the process I didn’t think I could do it – what was I doing? – etc, but I’m so glad we persevered to the end. It was a great success and we have more in the works!
Surrounding yourself with positive people is SO important. I weeded out a lot of negative people – or ones that cling to drama and it has made my life infinitely better!
This is so accurate! I love that you mention to surround yourself with positive people. Several years ago my husband and I were starting a business and we decided to start it without saying a word to anyone we knew personally. We realized that even our family and those that were closest to us were negative on things that they didn’t understand and taking risks. We waited until we had been working for months on our own business and had finally earned that first customer before we even told our parents what we were doing. They were all surprised, but it allowed us to push past the difficult part of trying something new without having people try to talk us out of it.
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I appreciate your post! It is so important for us to think positively and counteract all the negative coming at us throughout the day! Thanks for the reminders!
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Thank you for this post – it was the perfect end to my day. All the reminders were valuable!
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Love this! I really try to stay positive and surround myself with positive people. When I feel myself slipping into negative thoughts I literally talk myself out of it 🙂
Blaming others is also something I try to avoid. It is such a negative waste of time. Thanks for sharing!
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Hey Bertha! Some of the best advice I’ve received has been “start before you feel ready”
That’s exactly what I did with my blog, and it was so liberating to switch my mentality from wanting to have everything figured out (like that’s even possible!) to I’ll just learn as I go!
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I completely agree with surrounding yourself around positive people and positive energy. It makes life in general and accomplishing your goals so much easier to achieve. Also, for the past few years, I’ve been getting real good at admitting my flaws and acknowledging that not accomplishing all of my goals (at the moment) is a direct result of my own actions.
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It really is easy to get stuck in a rut, isn’t it? It seems like you want things to change but it is difficult to see how to make it happen. Thanks for the reminder that we have to persevere and be positive if we expect anything to change. Looking forward to taking a few leaps this year!
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I can honestly say I loved this article. It is just what I needed to read this morning when I am feeling a bit down about my life and circumstances. You reminded me that if I don’t try, nothing will change. Thank you for this helpful article.
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I love this line in your post. “Don’t think about what will happen if you fail, think about the bigger picture. What will happen if you don’t try?” Great food for thought. And yes, fear is so crippling.
I love your tip about positive thoughts! It’s so easy to get distracted and down, and yet so important to make an effort to stay positive. I know I always get more done when I have a good attitude. 🙂
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Getting out of ones own comfort zone can be one of the hardest things in the world to accomplish… but it’s the time when you can just open up and be unafraid that you begin to flourish. Well lets just say thats what I got out of this wonderful post. For me, living with PTSD I try very hard, sometimes my symptoms over come me… but it’s the time when I’m brave that the world doesn’t seem such a scary place 🙂
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Bertha, thank you for the inspiring post! I have stepped out of my comfort zone occasionally. It has not been easy. It has been worth it! I appreciate your experiences that you have shared with all of us. 🙂 Thank you! ~Adrienne
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