What Has Scared You This Week?
Doing things that scares you is an important step in your growth journey.
Similar to my last post about failure, this one is focusing on stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something that scares you. I thought this quote was a great way to summarize.
Challenge yourself regularly.
I think the first thing that stands out to me about this topic is that you have to challenge yourself on a regular basis. That could be daily, weekly, or monthly, but you have to find ways to “learn to sail your ship in the storm” as the quote states. You are going to have areas of business that are more comfortable to you and as you grow you are going to be able to afford to hire folks to take over the things you like less and that drain you. That is good because that means you will be spending less of your time being drained. At the same time you need to look for ways to stay challenged with new topics. Maybe you ask your new accountant or CFO to go over a financial report with you each week. Maybe you look to learn about a new marketing campaign, maybe you look to learn the basics of how to code your website. I’m not suggesting that you do any of these things with the intent to become a master and take over the responsibility for your business. Simply do them to continue to challenge yourself and learn new things. It will also help you ask better questions when there are problems. You will be able to engage with the team and help them find a solution faster. The next time someone tries to pitch you a new product or service for your business you will know what the key pain points are for the team, that way you can ensure the new product or service is helpful to the team. Fine things on a regular basis to challenge yourself.
Outside of your comfort zone you will find success.
I am not a big time sailor by any means, but I do know a little bit about sailing. Knowing what I do know and my small amount of experience on the ocean I can say that I would be very uncomfortable trying to sail my boat through a storm. I can also say that I would learn really quickly how to sail better. Applying that kind of thinking to your small business would mean that you find yourself outside of your comfort zone often. As you spend that time outside of your comfort zone you will be learning quickly and growing. You will find new prospects or ad campaigns that work. You will also find some that do not work as well (see my last post). Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone will lead to new experience and new growth. By following up with that cold call you will find a new customer. By asking for honest feedback from your customers you will learn what new improvements you need to focus on. These are not comfortable conversations, but they are conversations that you need to have. So push yourself outside of your comfort zone, and you will continue to grow and find success.
So Remember:
Find regular ways to challenge yourself.
By challenging yourself you will find better questions to ask.
Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone will learn to more success.
Thank you for your time reading this post. I hope you found some nuggets of wisdom in it. If you did please share it with a friend.