Ep #118: Reach Beyond Comfort Zones for Food Bloggers

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Do you ever feel like you’re struggling to make your big break, but somehow you feel stuck? Well, today’s episode is for you because I’m talking with Andy Kolinsky about how to Reach Beyond Comfort Zones. Learn the valuable skills it takes to make improvements in every area of your life, including your professional life. If intrigued about the idea of making changes in your life, listen to Bjork and Linsday Ostrom talk about their 1% Infinity Improvement Formula. You can also read my post on the Hierarchy of Creativity.

Learn valuable tools and skills to understand and Reach Beyond Comfort Zones for food bloggers with today's guest Andy Molinsky, author of the book Reach.

Have you ever found yourself procrastinating on a late Thursday afternoon? You know you have goals to achieve. Beyond that you even have identified tasks to accomplish, but somehow you’re a little bit stuck. You feel almost held back in some ways. That’s what today’s topic is all about: How to Reach Beyond Comfort Zones.

I’ve definitely felt that too and it’s one reason I was inspired to talk with Dr. Andy Molinksy about his new book Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge, Build Confidence.

There are days when I can use a little bit of all of those.

When you’re busy building a blog and a business, you need to make sure you’ve got all the confidence you can muster at the ready. Andy’s book is a powerful resource on how to do just that.

There are everyday situations outside of our comfort zones. But what if instead of avoiding it, you actually learned to do it. Click To Tweet

There is a very common tendency when taking on something new to procrastinate. Think, for example, about pitching that brand you really want to work with. If you’re uncomfortable about doing that for whatever reason, it will be all too easy to just put it off until tomorrow. However, what if you decide to roll up your sleeves and learn a little more about the art of pitching (see link below for a podcast episode on that very topic), and decide to take the leap.

I can say from experience, it’s quite a thrill when you get to cross a task like that off your list.

Andy talks about the part in his book when people take on a task that’s been scaring them for awhile. It might be something like speaking at an event or say something they know someone doesn’t want to hear. What he describes is that a lot of people will discover one of two things: 1) It wasn’t as bad as they thought it was going to be and/or 2) They’re better at it than they thought they were.

If I say Oh I know everything about everything, that’s the worse thing I can do to myself. I want to proceed with an open mind, learn from my experiences, and keep plugging forward. Click To Tweet When you have a source of conviction, it can be an amazing resource. Click To Tweet Knowing your purpose is like having a well that you can go to when the going gets tough. Click To Tweet

The best thing you can do is know your purpose, because that can carry you through a lot of difficult times.

So get your REACH going by listening to today’s show!

Featured Content – Reach Beyond Comfort Zones

Here are some of the highlights of my discussion with Andy about how to reach beyond comfort zones. Here are some of the specifics:

  • We discuss why Andy began studying change, both in people and organizations
  • Andy recommends keeping a Reach Journal to track your progress in stepping outside of comfort zones.
  • We talk about perfectionism and Andy gives a story of someone who had a great idea, but spent too much time perfecting things
  • Andy talks about the benefit of putting things out there so you can improve on it
  • We discuss procrastination as it relates to confidence
  • How does this discussion relate to food blogging? Marly talks about the things that food bloggers are doing.
  • Andy says the famous quote, “Don’t let great be the enemy of the good.”
  • The comfort zone has conventional wisdom about it
  •  Pushing beyond your comfort zone is really more of a process, rather than a one-stop shopping event
  • Finding a sense of purpose is critical to having more confidence to get out of a comfort zone
  • Did you know when have a tendency to negotiate better when they’re thinking of others?
  • We discuss the importance of taking leaps
  • Don’t succumb to fear, actually take steps and you’ll discover this isn’t as hard as I thought it was
  • You might also learn that you’re better at it than you thought you were
  • Practicing is key for getting better at anything, like sports, but also for getting beyond your comfort zone. Practice giving a big speech by talking in front of a smaller group
  • Andy suggests journaling after an event – it’s a great way of coping, but it can also help you know when you’ve made progress
  • Craft your world in the way you want it to be

Show Notes

This episode on how to Reach Beyond Comfort Zones includes references to some resources you might find interesting. Here they are:

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Thanks so much for listening to today’s podcast. I hope you found it informative and helpful to the work you do every day. Make sure you don’t miss out on any of the Chopped Podcast episodes by heading on over to iTunes to subscribe to the Chopped Podcast. While you’re there, provide a review and rating is a great way to help other podcast listeners find it too! That’s it for today’s podcast. As always, thanks so much for joining in the discussion!

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