I believe personal growth starts when the comfort zone is in the rearview mirror.
That’s what happened on April 12th, seven years ago. Goodbye comfort zone. Hello, foodtalk4you.com!
The thing to understand is – growth is not linear. When you grow in one direction, little accompanying offshoots spring up and out from your initial effort, all requiring additional growth.
My musings about total body good health out there for the world to read?
Geez. Who was I? How do I even start?
Hostgator? Domains? WordPress? What’s all that?
Foodtalk4you has led me to self-publishing, marketing, advertising on Amazon, to putting a full-fledged, free course on Teachable.
So far.
Maybe you are actualizing your desire to watercolor; it’s not something you’ve ever learned how to do. Maybe you have never done anything artsy before.
First comes learning about what kinds of brushes you need. Then comes the type of paper to use. Where or how are you going to learn watercolor techniques? Pretty soon, you are conversant about different kinds of paint, types of palettes – maybe even easels.
You start out with a simple still life and then discover the world of plein air art. Shading. Light. Perspective. Focal points. Seasons. Now, there’s matting and framing to consider.
You have amassed a sizeable collection of paintings that you now want to share with the world. You learn about getting a booth at the local farmer’s market and then you learn how to attractively present your beautiful pictures.
Business cards? Well, there you go. You learn how to design them. You learn where to get them printed.
One of your watercolors was bought by an elementary school teacher who asks if you would come to her class to demonstrate to the students the basics of how-to watercolor. You, teaching others? Now your comfort zone is really being stretched. But you go for it, and the students were wonderful, talented, and they hung on your every word.
Eventually, your tiny little shoot of growth has matured into a thriving tree with many branches. Bravo!
Stepping out of our comfort zones is where life is. Where there’s life, there’s growth.
So, go ahead. Step out of that comfort zone. It’s just one step, but it will lead to many others. Pretty soon, you’ll look back and marvel at all you have accomplished.
Happy seventh birthday, foodtalk4you! The trip is just getting started!
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If you know of a family caregiver who is struggling with their journey, send them to my free mini-course: Family Caregiver Emotions | Toolkits for Health (teachable.com).
Growth. We can do this!
Deidre