There's little that scares us more than the unknown. The uncomfortable. The new.
It's human nature to find your comfort zone and do your best to stay within it. But until you take a step outside of that comfort zone, you'll never truly know what you're capable of. You can expand your zone if you dare -- and trust me, I'm (slowly) learning there's quite a bit of stretch in what you can endure and add into your zone.
I, for instance, am a creature of habit. I love my schedules and I like to adhere to my routines -- now. When I was younger, chasing after this ambitious dream of NHL writing, I was fearless. I moved from state to state and took every opportunity I could find with very little worry. Ah, to be young.
And then, once I found the pot of gold at the end of my dream rainbow, I became a bit complacent, happy to stay tucked in tight into my comfort zone. New options would cross my path from time to time, but why rock the boat when you're nestled in.
Hey, I'm not writing this to say there is anything wrong with that BUT who says you have to ever be done growing. Who says you ever have to be done chasing a new dream, and who says you can't go after something wildly and completely different.
While bringing new voice studios together, my cushy comfort zone of a career began to falter. So while new voice presented an opportunity in the face of my own unknown, looking back facing my fear and pursuing an entirely new venture (hello podcasting and hello being my own boss) was exactly what I needed.
Because, while I was positively happy with where I was, a forced out forced me to take a look at my value and worth. It made me re-evaluate my priorities in life (which had always been more of a work/life balance instead of a life/work balance -- something I'm striving for now), and made me recognize truly that you are the only one looking out for you.
And, yeah, it's scary as hell. But what scares you usually yields the biggest rewards. It scares you because you know you have something to lose.
So take the job. Recreate your brand. Recreate yourself. Jump into the lake instead of just dipping your toe in and believe in yourself above all else. You'll be amazed at what you can find.
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