Life Begins at the End of Your Comfort Zone
It’s been 9 years since I walked into a hot yoga studio.
Back in 2014, I used to go to hot yoga almost every day after work.
But ever since I started commuting 3 hours a day to work in NYC, I stopped.
Losing yoga for Gensler seems like a fair trade right?
For those years, I devoted every second of my life to the projects that I was working on.
I was happy because I loved being an architect, but I was also very unhealthy.
I didn’t just give up “yoga.” I gave up taking care of myself.
Why? Not just because our industry pushes us to work harder.
But I think deep down it’s easier to give in to work than to take time for myself.
It’s annoying to get yourself up from that chair and carry a yoga mat to a class.
It’s uncomfortable to walk into a room full of people that are better than you.
It’s scary when you hear all the voices in your head once you get on that mat.
It’s not easy to put yourself first, especially when we’re all trained a certain way for 5 years in architecture school.
Using Growth as a Tool
Today I finally stepped into a hot yoga class.
And on the wall behind the teacher, there was a sign that said,
“Life starts at the end of your comfort zone.”
I kept staring at it before class in the 95°F room and thought to myself…
“I’m glad I stepped out of my comfort zone today.”
As cliche as it is, every growth that happened in my life happened outside of my comfort zone.
Moving across the world to go to college in the U.S. meant I had to learn to adapt to new environments quickly.
→ This ability also helped me when I switched my career where I had to learn everything all over again in a totally different environment.
Working at Gensler meant I had to constantly speak up for myself (and often others) as an introvert in the corporate world.
→ And it gave me the confidence I needed when I started building my personal brand and creating content online.
I can give you more and more examples, but I think you get the idea.
The growth you gain outside of your comfort zone becomes a tool that you can use later in life.
For you, maybe it’s as simple as walking into a yoga class.
Or creating content online.
Or as big as getting a new job, or moving across the country.
Whatever it is, it’ll be worth it.
Comment below and let me know - what are you doing to step out of your comfort zone today?
Always cheering you on,
Joann
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