Starting a Business in Your Twenties - Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone
During the pandemic, the news was filled with stories of doom and gloom. The thing that struck me the most was the effect it was having on people’s livelihoods. Furlough became a household word and jobs were being lost, it seemed no one was thriving in the workplace. But after coming across this article this morning it appears not everyone was struggling. It struck a chord with me, because in a time of such uncertainty and despair, a young woman at the age of 19 dares to take a leap of faith and start her own business during the lockdown.
It blows my mind to think about someone so young being so courageous to follow her passion. After working for years with young entrepreneurs, it’s this kind of courage that really inspires me and is the reason I love working with young people. I understand that someone at that age has less of a risk factor with no major responsibilities like a family to care for or bills to pay. But at the same time why don’t you see more young people stepping into the unknown and taking risks? In my opinion, it’s down to comfort zones.
Everyone is guilty of this at one point or another. It's easy to fall into a routine. It gives you confidence when you know what the outcome is going to be. Your twenties is the time to take risks, try new things out, and learn from your failures. If it doesn’t work out, it's not the end of the world. You can always go back to the safe route, but at least you know you tried. So that being said, for the rest of this blog I am going to discuss reasons why you should take risks and step out of your comfort zone. Before that I am going to say I’m not telling you to pack in your job and follow your passion, it could be a small task to take you out of your comfort zone, such as trying a new gym class, walking a new route home, or ordering something different from the menu of the same restaurant you visit every week (don’t worry - I’m not asking you to switch up your favourite place to eat - YET!).
Of course comfort zones aren’t the only reason people struggle to reach their goals, you can read more about that here.
I am going to look at why people don’t take risks and like to stay in their comfort zone. As I mentioned before, the comfort zone is a safe environment for people, you know what you’re getting yourself into and it’s a state that provides us with a certain amount of mental confidence. Being comfortable is neither good nor bad because there are some perks to being in your comfort zone such as low anxiety and reduced stress.
But why should you take risks and get out of your comfort zone? When leaving your comfort zone, you will feel anxious and a bit uneasy. This is natural for everyone so you’re not alone. It’s about how you deal with these feelings: will you shy away from them or face them head-on and embrace it? Without risks, you don’t truly know what makes you tick. When in your comfort zone it’s safe and easy and without risks, it’s hard to know who you truly are and what you like. Once you are out of it, we discover our true self, making room for growth and change, something that is difficult in the comfort zone.
You can’t learn much in your comfort zone. Science has confirmed that once you know the best way of doing something and get into repetition mode, your brain’s learning centres shut down, and you’re not stimulating your brain. (Inc. 2018) Whereas out of your comfort zone you’re experiencing new things which cause you to learn and adapt to situations you wouldn't have encountered before. An example of this in my life is before I started my own business, I was comfortable and didn’t think I could ever teach people sales. But it came to the big leap of stepping out and taking a risk and starting a business. I learnt so much about myself and the business in the first year it was incredible, things I never would have learnt without leaving my comfort zone. Without ever starting my business, I never would have met some of the amazing people I have today. Heck - I probably wouldn’t even have my MBE!
That’s what I love so much about this article is that this girl didn’t know how to run a business, not many people do when they start. But it's about embracing that fear of leaving your comfort zone and taking small steps forward to your goal. So next time you have an opportunity to take a risk, big or small do it because you can only learn from the experience.
If you’re thinking about taking the leap and starting your own business, it’s important you have the correct foundations in place. Check out my free trial of my Guide to Starting a Business Course, here.
