Latika Vines Of Visionary Initiatives On How to Grow Beyond Your Comfort Zone to Grow Both Personally and Professionally

An Interview With Maria Angelova

Forget every lie that feeds self-doubt and imposter syndrome to achieve your goals. The Bible tells us that the devil has one job, and that is to steal, kill, and destroy. The lies that have been said to you and about you, are only to steal, kill, and destroy your dreams, desires, and future. You must affirm yourself of who you are (e.g., smart, deserving, and enough) believing that you are not what has been said to you.

It feels most comfortable to stick with what we are familiar with. But anyone who has achieved great success will tell you that true growth comes from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. What are some ways that influential people have pushed themselves out of their comfort zone to grow both personally and professionally? As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Latika Vines.

Latika Vines is the Founder of Visionary Initiatives, a Career & Workforce Development Organization providing learning strategies, policies, and programs to support the current and future career development and retention of working moms. Latika has more than sixteen years of Workforce Development and Corporate Training experience working in private and public sector to solve their learning and development and succession management challenges. Latika is the winner of a Commissioner’s Award for her work in Career Development. She is the author of 4 books and co-author of 3 books. Latika lives in Maryland with her husband and four daughters.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?

For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed talking with people. I was considered the President of “the closing ministry,” because I would continue to talk to people long after an event has ended. And what I realized is that the ability to have conversations with individuals, from various backgrounds, and find a commonality with them, is a gift from God and role modeled by my father. Being young I never understood how my father could be in another state but catch up with someone he grew up with or knew from his job. Decades later, I am just like my father in that aspect where I have been blessed to know people all around the world, because I enjoy talking with others.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

One of my favorite quotes is, “You are responsible for your life. You can’t keep blaming somebody else for your dysfunction. Life is really about moving on.” This quote by Oprah Winfrey has been vital for me to live by because it reminds me that I can’t blame anyone or anything for my failures, pain, hurt, and disappointments. For many years, I blamed a failed marriage, lack of opportunities, lack of love, and every disappointment and painful memory on others. And, very clearly God told me to stop blaming others for what did or didn’t happen in my life. I had to understand that I am responsible for my reaction to everything that occurs in my life, good, bad, or ugly. And, my response will either be dysfunction or joy. I have the responsibility to choose. I can not remain stuck blaming others when I have full responsibility for my reactions.

Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

There are a plethora of books, podcasts, songs, and films that made an impact on my life; but the one that is significant is the podcast of Transformation Church. In this podcast, the lead Pastor, Mike Todd, shares inspiration on how to be a better Christian. Specifically, in this series topic, Crazy Faith, he shares steps of how we can believe bigger for the promises God has spoken to us. This series topic has been my favorite because it is a reminder that God wants greater for me, but I have to believe in it for it to occur.

Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Let’s start with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. What does “getting outside of your comfort zone” mean?

I believe getting outside of your comfort zone means doing something that you do not desire to do, but, in doing it will achieve great results. It involves get unstuck in your thoughts and actions, and letting go of fear.

Can you help articulate a few reasons why it is important to get out of your comfort zone?

Recently, we have adopted the term ‘quiet quitting.’ Many of us have physically come to the office and performed satisfactorily, but we are not mentally or emotionally aligned or attached to our tasks and projects or the mission of the organization. Thus, the work we perform is not our best. We are unhappy and feel stuck in the position or organization. This is considered quiet quitting. Although, the term is relatively new, the action is not.

For many years, many people (me included) arrive to the office in our quiet quitting state. But, due to the comfort of knowing the tasks, knowing the people, and knowing the organization, we remain stuck. And, remaining stuck but unhappy, causes us to continue quiet quitting, not working to our full-potential, and missing organizational opportunities because we no longer care. Additionally, when you remain in your comfort zone, you begin to believe that you cannot gain or deserve a new job. Your mindset blocks the success you could have.

This is more than enough reason for us to get out of our comfort zone. When you remain in your comfort zone, you will miss opportunities such as:

1. Gaining new internal and external employment opportunities.
2. Building your self-confidence.
3. Gain creativity.

Is it possible to grow without leaving your comfort zone? Can you explain what you mean?

When you are in a comfortable place, you are content with where you are. Additionally, you are content with your circle of influence and what you believe in. You develop habits that neglect the need to exercise professional and personal growth. In a content place, you are not able to grow. You do not attain the resources to grow. It is impossible to grow while being in a comfort zone. You must leave so that you can grow in your:

1. Mindset
2. Actions
3. Circle of Influence

The above three will propel you to step out of your comfort zone so you can experience the professional and personal growth you deserve.

Can you share some anecdotes from your personal experience? Can you share a story about a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone and how it helped you grow? How does it feel to take those first difficult steps?

In my early thirty’s, I became a working mother of 4 young girls in a male-dominated industry. I was told, on numerous occasions, that I wasn’t good enough for leadership positions because working moms have a primary focus of raising children rather than being reliable in their positions or organizations. It was the farthest from the truth.

But, for many years, I endured those comments and name calling in the workplace and didn’t know how to fight for what I wanted, which was to be respected as a hard-working Career Development Professional who is also a driven working mother. Colleagues would send me job postings, but I would ignore them because I started to believe and live life based on the negative comments I received from leaders. But I was not happy with where I was; and I knew that there was more; but I stayed in my comfort zone because I gained the favor of colleagues and managers to receive the flexibility of remote work and flexibility to take care of my children.

But, I was unhappy, unfilled, and began to feel bitter and resentful towards everyone who accepted new job offers. One day, I realized that I could no longer live like this because it not only was affecting me, but it was affecting my family and personal relationships. So, I had to learn how to let go of F.E.A.R. that was keeping me stuck and R.I.S.E. By learning what I was fearful of, I was able to do the opposite, which was to grow out of my comfort zone. The first thing was identify what I wanted for my career and where I could attain it. It was in those moments that I identified that I wanted to be a Chief Learning/People Officer in a professional, technical, or small business organization. Identifying what I wanted was a life altering moment, because I knew then that I had the ability to do something great in the world and I had the permission to go after it.

Here is the central question of our discussion. What are your “five ways to push past your comfort zone, to grow both personally and professionally”?

Although, I knew the steps to achieve my next career move, I had to remove the doubt, imposter syndrome, anxiety, worry, concern, and suspicion that was constantly reminding me to stay unhappy and unfulfilled. Removing those feelings were not easy, and it did not occur quickly; however, the process of defining F.E.A.R. gave me the strength to overcome being stuck in my career and it can help you as well. Let’s define F.E.A.R.

F — FORGET: Forget every lie that feeds self-doubt and imposter syndrome to achieve your goals. The Bible tells us that the devil has one job, and that is to steal, kill, and destroy. The lies that have been said to you and about you, are only to steal, kill, and destroy your dreams, desires, and future. You must affirm yourself of who you are (e.g., smart, deserving, and enough) believing that you are not what has been said to you.

E — EVERYTHING: Everything (e.g., negativity, setbacks, disappointments, and hurt) you went through was to strengthen your character, courage, and confidence. Its purpose was to strengthen who you are for the future.

A — AND: You will not be able to do this alone AND you cannot bring everyone with you on the next chapter of your career and life. There are some people you will need to separate from. You will need to re-evaluate who you are around and decide on your new surroundings. You can do this by gaining a mentor(s), coach(es), and other trusted individuals to keep you accountable to achieving your goals.

R — RUN: You can’t continue to run from your dreams. When you run, you become tired, lose direction, and miss your blessings, victory, freedom, and joy. Will you continue to run from where you are supposed to go? I ran from my career goals and dreams for years and wasted much time playing catch up. Don’t run from what you are called to do in your career or life based on someone’s perception or thought of you!

To gain the power to pursue your career, you must have the ability to R.I.S.E. (Respond Intentionally Serving in Excellence). This process seemed impossible for me, but when I took the time to gain clarity on what I wanted in my career, I had the power inside of me all along. Let’s define how to R.I.S.E.

R — Respond: You must accept that your Career and Life goals and dreams exist and respond to it. Responding can include:

1. Making the commitment to yourself and God that you will achieve the Dream.

2. Attach yourself to accountability.

3. Invest in yourself, professionally and personally.

I — Intentionally: Everyone will not understand your response to achieving your career and life goals and dreams, but you must be intentional pursuing it. You hold the power to RISE! You must be intentional to:

1. Dedicate time to achieving your small, medium, and large career goals.

2. Create a workspace that allows you to achieve your goals.

3. Be organized with your goals.

S — Serving: Actively pursuing your career and life goals and dreams will serve the people that you are attached to. Your actions will serve as a representation for children and young adults to follow your career footsteps. Serving can include the following:

1. Get involved in your local community to share your career story to inspire others.

2. Accept volunteer experiences to serve others to gain experience and assist projects that are not funded.

E — Excellence: When you overcome F.E.A.R. to accept, acknowledge, and serve in your career, do so in excellence. Provide exceptional service in your career.

From your experience or perspective, what are some of the common barriers that keep someone from pushing out of their comfort zone?

There are plenty of barriers that may keep someone from getting out of their comfort zone. The common barriers include:

• The thoughts and opinions of others
• Anxiety
• Lack of self confidence
• Limiting Beliefs

There is a well-known quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt that says, “Do something that scares you every day”. What exactly does this mean to you? Is there inherent value in doing something that pushes you out of your comfort zone, even if it does not relate to personal or professional growth? For example, if one is uncomfortable about walking alone at night should they purposely push themselves to do it often for the sake of going beyond their comfort zone? Can you please explain what you mean?

Doing something scary means creating the habit of doing something that I am not comfortable with, but would help me to experience career and personal growth. Every single day, I turn on my computer and write a social media post, create a short video, and send LinkedIn connection requests to strangers to build my business. These may be small tasks but are mighty in return. But, if I remain in my comfort zone, the world would not know what my business provides and how we serve working mothers. It is scary, but the impact I am able to bring to the world is the greatest reward. The fact that people are able to refer me to their colleagues or wife because they see the value in the work I do, is the reward of getting out of my comfort zone.

When you can get out of your comfort zone, you are able to experience:

• Learn more about yourself and your abilities
• Create new experiences and memories
• Gain new relationships
• Security
• Financial Freedom
• Prosperity
• Fulfillment

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

I would inspire to create a program for working moms to get out of their comfort zone to achieve career success. I would create programs and systems within that allow them to establish work-life balance in their positions, learn how to develop their careers, create child-care programs onsite, and have an overflow of work-life balance companies for working moms. I would have training programs to build their skills and communication and equity programs teaching them how to create balance at home with household chores, parenting, and more.

Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!

I would be honored to have lunch with Michelle Obama. As a working mother, I admire how she is able to successfully pursue her career while balancing family life. If we were to have lunch together, I would interview her asking questions such as,

1. What is one career tip you would give a mom who struggles with work-life balance?
2. How does a working mom go high when her job goes low when trying to achieve career success?
3. How do you nurture your relationship with your husband?
4. How do you prioritize yourself in a world where you have so many things on your to-do list?

How can our readers follow you online?

Readers can follow me online at www.visionary-initaitives.com | www.facebook.com/visionaryinitiatives.com | www.instagram.com/visionaryinitiatives | www.twitter.com/latika_vines | www.linkedin.com/in/latika-s-vines

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.