Quick Takes:
- Understand your comfort zone, and step out of it
- Confidence is a key component to succeeding
- Check out my brother’s blog, www.evantarver.com
Well, the time has come. I’m sitting here at my gate, waiting to embark on a trip of a lifetime. I just devoured my last American meal before Europe, a burger and fries, of course. As I sit here and wait, my hands are sweating like the condensation on the bottle of that beer I just drank. My hands are shaking as if I had just been dropped off at my first day of grade school. My emotions and thoughts are going crazy, like the feeling of riding your first roller coaster. My train of thought is skewed and it almost feels as if I’m not going to be in another country in 12 hours. However, I keep telling myself I have been preparing not for this moment, but for this adventure, for this journey, for the most amazing two months of my life for 21 years. This preparation, and development of this blog, has taught me importance of writing your thoughts and sharing them with surrounding people. I will try to organize my stream of conscious, but bear with me, because what I want you to know about my mental a state could get jumbled, but I will do my best. Here is what I call: keeping up with your dreams.
Understand your comfort zone and get out of it!
I had a special phone call with one of my brothers earlier this afternoon, and what he was explaining to me resonated with what is going on in my life, now. He explained, “Know your comfort zone, but do not be afraid to get out of it.” As for now, I think I know my comfort zone. I think I know what I am capable of doing. I think I know what being “outside of my comfort zone” means. But, truly, I haven’t really obtained that understanding yet. Although getting outside our comfort zones is difficult, I strongly believe it is something everyone needs to do and, most of all, believe they can do it. Our minds are stronger than we think. Our capabilities are larger than we believe.
Over the last month, I have been thinking, and reading, about the concept of “self-doubt.” I’ve been learning how it impacts our daily lives, and see it as one main reason we all are sometimes reluctant to step outside our comfort zones. As my brother, Evan Tarver, states in his personal development blog, “It [self-doubt] increases our insecurities and causes us to think we aren’t worthy of whatever it is we’re trying to do…self-doubt causes us to second guess ourselves in almost every situation,” (check his rad blog out at evantarver.com, little sibling love!). This idea of “self-doubt”, is directly correlated with getting outside our comfort zones, and realizing our capabilities. If we are able to understand how to reduce our self-doubt, and pinpoint our exact comfort zones, it will make it surprisingly easier to step out of it and experiences aspects of life that are motivating and eye-opening. As for now, I apologize that I can’t explain to you how to reduce self-doubt, or pinpoint your comfort zone, because I am in the heart of the time of my life where I am learning lessons I never thought I would encounter. I’ll get back to you some other time, if I ever find the golden solution.
Confidence, confidence confidence!
That’s right, I just said confidence three times in a row. You know why? Because it’s that important. It’s the key to success in business, success in completing goals, and success in life, yeah I went there. In addition, it compliments the ideas presented above. Confidence is all in your head. If you believe you can do something with great success, more times than not, you will complete the tasks at hand with flying colors. If you tell yourself you don’t have the capabilities or qualities to overcome a situation, (cough, cough, self-doubt), you will not succeed. The idea of physical and mental confidence came a key part of my life when I told myself I would be traveling alone.
Four years ago, I honestly wouldn’t have been able to imagine myself traveling alone. I’m sure many of my friends, siblings, and of course my parents, could tell you the same. However, over the years, I finally began to believe more in myself. I began to see what I was possibly capable of, what my mind was capable of; I had a mini epiphany, if you will. During that epiphany, I finally understood the concept of confidence, and that if you really believe in yourself, you can do whatever you put your mind to. Cliché, I know, but it’s actually true. Along with that, I realized that I finally came to the realization that I have set myself up for a life changing journey. A journey that will cause me to become someone much different, someone much better.
–
So, as I sit here and wonder who I will be sitting next to on this 10 hour flight, I want to challenge you on this day, and this day forward. I want to challenge you to experience new adventures. I want to challenge you to step outside that comfort zone, and discover what is out there in life waiting for you to seize.
As the great Muhammad Ali once said, “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoes.”
If you were wondering, my hands are still sweating. See you soon, London.
Cheers, America!
