John: I am trying to do something outside my comfort zone at least once a week. This week, it is doing a nightly walk. I am making an effort to get outside after the workday is done, away from my computer, my phone and just walk. I don’t do anything during the walk, I just walk and think about the day or sometimes I don’t think about anything. I just walk, wave hi to the neighbors I see and be grateful for living in my neighborhood.

This is new to me – this practice of walking, but it is very restorative. I may continue it next week, or I may move on to something else, learning a new skill perhaps, like cooking a dish I have not prepared. Maybe I will listen to a new podcast or maybe I will read a new book.

Once a week works nicely for me. It keeps me expanding and growing, but it also keeps me for appreciating my routine. I love the mundane and routine – it is where great things happen, but allowing my life to expand fills me with hope and wonder over time.

Sandy: This sounds great John!  Doing something outside your comfort zone is terrific, because it is how we grow.  I know we’ve talked before about what happens when we always stay in our safe place.  After a while we get bored, stale, and stuck.  When we step outside of our comfort place and do something different, it forces us to expand who we are, and in the process, we learn and grow.

As you have discovered with your nightly walks, doing something different allows you to discover new things about yourself.  I especially like that you are just walking, with no distractions.  As you say, it is restorative for your mind, body and emotions.  Just walking is a wonderful thing.

One of my favorite sayings is, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always gotten.”

It’s great that you will probably do another new thing next week, and you will grow in another way from whatever you next choose.  However, just because you start another new thing doesn’t mean you have to let go of what you have learned from the last one.  If walking is restorative, I hope you will continue to do it, and make it a part of your normal routine.

Part of the benefit of doing new things is finding what you are capable of, what fits for who you are, and what does not, and then incorporating what does into your pattern and letting go of, and being grateful for, having had the experience of learning about what does not.

This is how we learn, grow, and find even more of our talents, skills and joys.

Please comment so others can benefit from your wisdom and experience. 

Sandy is now offering a FREE Coaching Call, so you can see what Coaching is all about.  Please email her at Sandy@insidejobscoach.com and put FREE Call in the Subject Line.  She will get right back to you to schedule your call. 

For FREE worksheets on ways to empower yourself, see the Resources Page on our Inside Jobs Coach website.  Also be sure to check out our Books and Programs page. 

If you’d like to bring positive changes into your life, we have the perfect thing for you.  Check out The Rapid Power Pack, and begin to create the life of your dreams. 

If you would like to feel more confident and believe in yourself, check out The Confidence Pack, which contains several powerful worksheets to guide you and an amazing hypnotherapy session to strengthen your belief in yourself.