My name is Jeff, and I hate going outside my comfort zone

So I know what you’re thinking: he’s handsome, smart, only 22 years old, is in business development — this guy must be fearless! Well, I know this might come as a shock, but you’d only be 99 percent correct there.

So what do I fear the most? Before writing this post, I thought #1 was big furry spiders. #2 was being trapped in an elevator. While those are both still in the top 3, I realized that a strong contender is going outside my comfort zone.

What really is “going outside your comfort zone?”

In my mind, the simple definition is this: “Trying something completely new, something different from the norm, something that for some reason or another, you’re terribly afraid of trying.”

Now that I have been in the full-time workforce for almost a year, I have come to realize that your “comfort zone” can manifest itself in many different ways.

In school, I was content with how I went about tasks, and life in general. I didn’t feel the need to challenge myself as much or as often. That mindset can get you through school, but it’s not going to get you through life. It’s definitely not going to help you become successful or achieve your goals.

Oh, how my comfort zone has changed…

When I started working at Social Tables, my mindset took a complete 180. Why? EVERYTHING was new. EVERYTHING was different. EVERYTHING was terrifying. And EVERYTHING I did at work took me outside of my comfort zone. I had very little on-the-phone experience. I knew next to nothing about hotels. And I definitely had absolutely no idea what the hell a floorplan was.

So why, after all this time learning and doing those things that scared me, am I still sitting here, talking about how scared I am to go outside my comfort zone?

Your comfort zone is ever changing and ever expanding

With every accomplishment comes a new challenge. With everything new thing you learn, there is always so much you still don’t know. You can never stop being afraid of going outside your comfort zone — without that fear, you would have nothing left in life to strive toward, and you would never grow as a person.

My father (he’s going to be soooo excited that he’s included in this post) used to quote this guy named Albert. Some of you may know him; he was a pretty famous scientist who knew lots of cool stuff. Anyway, the quote goes: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

So what the hell am I getting at?

When he used to say that Einstein quote to me, I hated it. I actually despised it. But, it really stuck with me. I quote it myself from time to time now. It’s important and relevant to what we’re talking about, because “going outside your comfort zone” is something all great innovators, entrepreneurs, and thought-leaders had to do. In order to grow, improve, and innovate, we must not be content with what we’re comfortable with. We must stay afraid of the unknown and untried, and then, eventually, overcome that fear.

Over the past year at Social Tables, here are a few things that scared me at one point in time, but no longer do:

• I had to learn about an industry that seemed like advanced calculus to me when I started. Today I consider myself an expert in it.
• We completely changed the way my position gets credit for our work, and I had to completely change the way I did my job. Now, looking back, I can’t believe we weren’t always being measured this way.
• I had to test out new messaging that to me made no sense at all, which now feels like the only logical way of describing our company and what we do.

The list goes on…

And the list will always go on. I’ve learned in my almost-one-year at Social Tables that to become a better version of yourself, you must embrace challenges and tackle them head on.

Now, at the end of this post, I find myself relishing the fear that I will encounter in my life. I’m excited, actually. Why? Because at some point, I’m going to overcome those fears and go outside my comfort zone, and it’s going to be awesome. Then, all I’ll have to worry about are the thousands of other things I’m afraid of, like big furry spiders and being stuck in an elevator. (Important note: I will never overcome my fear of big furry spiders, I can guarantee that.)

Every Day Is A School Day