“Magic Happens outside of your comfort zone”
It really does.
Yes, we’ve featured these amazing individuals who pursue their inspiring passions outside of their 9-5 jobs but let’s face it, not everyone is like this, and I'm definitely not. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be pushing yourself to try new things because sometimes, you’ll surprise yourself in the most unexpected places.
For the dreamers looking for a bit of boost, this one’s for you:
1. Don’t live weekend to weekend
I’m sure we’ve all thought of it. Monday morning rolls along, you’ve already spilled coffee on your blouse, had a boring status meeting, dealt with a paper jam, and thought to yourself: “Is it Friday yet?” Whether you love your day job or not, we’ve all had these thoughts. I guess I’m speaking from personal experience here but I used to spend my entire week trying to jam pack every single fun thing I wanted to do for the next weekend. The result? Crankier Monday mornings from being too tired.
To those who haven’t figured it out yet, reserve one day during the week to do something for yourself after work. You can forget laundry, making dinner, dishes, etc for ONE night right? (unless you have kids or pets. Don’t forget them.) The more you do it, the more you can make an effort to make time for yourself.
2. Take a course
As humans, we thrive on continuously challenging ourselves to new levels, and are naturally curious.
Whether you’ve just started your career or have many years of experience, taking a course can feed that need to learn something new, which ultimately opens your mind to think. It doesn’t have to be relevant to your job if you don’t want it to be. In fact, I encourage you to learn something completely out of your element.
3. Do one thing every day that intimidates you
As cliché as that sounds, do it. Want to know mine? Although I’m in advertising, public speaking scares me. More than it should. I still get sweaty palms and rehearse what I’m going to say over and over every time I have to speak. So, every once in a while, I challenge myself to speak up in a group of strangers (even if I have nothing to say). No matter how big or small it is, name one thing that scares you and do it.
4. Say “yes” to something you normally say “no” to
(that's actually me! something i said "yes" to..)
We all have that one friend who asks us to go to an event or do an activity that we think is “out of our character”. Why not try it? It could be your next big discovery about yourself, or…or…you might actually hate it but at least you just learned something about yourself.
Although these aren’t ground breaking tactics, I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone once in a while. It may not lead to a new passion that you can pursue outside of your day job but it’s one big step forward in discovering more about yourself and who you want to be outside of your career. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
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