We all have a Comfort Zone, a psychological state where we feel safe, at ease, and in control of the environment around us. It is within this Comfort Zone that we tend to avoid new experiences or challenges; instead, we stick to familiar activities. 

These can include never missing a particular TV show, eating certain foods, always brushing your teeth, to even yelling when something doesn’t go your way. As this is your Comfort Zone, you can experience low levels of stress and anxiety, convincing you that anything out of your Comfort Zone will raise anxiety and generate higher stress levels. 

Thinking you know everything and that there is nothing new to learn is the biggest way to stay in your comfort zone. It is with changing your mindset to a growth mindset that you can move yourself out of your comfort zone and, start to go beyond your fears, and start to grow in confidence. 

I was stuck in my Comfort Zone for years, always doing the same things, and if I did push myself, it wouldn’t be very long before I slipped back into the safe space of my Comfort Zone. 

That was until 2023; everything seemed to start there, and that’s when I did my first podcast. Despite nervousness and anxiety, I pushed forward and did it. No one would see my face; I had to look at it as if I was just having a normal conversation with a friend. 

When my book was released in February 2024, stepping out of my Comfort Zone started to become a regular thing. You would think that with each time I did it, it would become easier; I will be honest with you, IT’s NOT!  Each time I was nervous, had anxiety and was scared I was going to screw it up in some way, yet I also knew that by stepping out of my Comfort Zone it was helping me to grow in confidence. 

That was until 2023; everything seemed to start there, and that’s when I did my first podcast. Despite nervousness and anxiety, I pushed forward and did it. No one would see my face; I had to look at it as if I was just having a normal conversation with a friend. 

When my book was released in February 2024, stepping out of my Comfort Zone started to become a regular thing. You would think that with each time I did it, it would become easier; I will be honest with you, IT’s NOT!  Each time I was nervous, had anxiety and was scared I was going to screw it up in some way, yet I also knew that by stepping out of my Comfort Zone it was helping me to grow in confidence. 

I have done such things as a guest speaker in a children’s reading group, book readings, and talking for a radio show, plus two more podcasts. Then there was the big one, the one that pushed me further than anything else I had done; I became a Headline Sponsor.

What is a Headline Sponsor, you may ask?  It’s someone who sponsors an event and benefits from doing so; for instance, the event I sponsored was a Book Pre-Launch; for sponsoring this event, I didn’t just help them; I got social media awareness and advertisement for my book, plus more. It also meant I had to do a 30-minute speech in front of 35 people. 

Just the thought of doing this made me feel sick! This wasn’t me just stepping out of my Comfort Zone; this time, it was me stepping into my biggest fear: PUBLIC SPEAKING!

I had committed to it now; I couldn’t let the person down, and I was determined not to let fear beat me. Having a good support network of friends to encourage me and listen to my speech as I wrote it helped as the date got closer. 

Then, on November 6th in Leeds at 11:30 A.M., I faced my fears and stepped out of my Comfort Zone. As I stood in front of a room full of 33 women and two men, my hands were shaking, I was nervous as hell, and my stomach was turning. I looked out into the audience and began. By the end, I was shaking worse than at the start, and a wave of relief ran through me as they erupted into applause.

Would I do it again? YES, I WOULD! Because its only through pushing ourselves that we grow. Now, I’m looking for my next big thing, the thing that will once again take me out of my Comfort Zone.

This was written by our contributing writer, Leah Palmer.