My comfort zone is this:
I need about 60 people in workout clothes
some reasonably deep house music, intense/borderline inappropriate, choreography
and a microphone.
You can leave me there, unsupervised and I will play happy for hours.
But instead this week…I have chosen to do this:
Dismantle something we have been working on for six months,
put it back together in a week,
pitch an idea and a piece of writing to someone who knows a thing or two about decent ideas and copy
and film and edit an extra thing that traditionally would have taken me a week or so on it’s own.
And invite 100 people to a ballroom and offer to make them feel more confident.
Going to try to bash out some helpful emails as well.
Nevertheless…
it will get done.
The thing I have found is that I, and actually everyone…can rise to a challenge.
May not be perfect, and it will definitely make you stressy, and probably lots of midnight oil and lastminute.com-ness. But it’s amazing what you can do.
Whenever I feel a bit overwhelmed (and trust me, I don’t want sympathy – it’s all self-imposed)
I remember being 15.
I may or may not have had a vodka (irrelevant, focus on the interesting stuff)
And I took to the dance floor for the All-England freestyle dance championships.
I was in the final, and that meant that you got to do a little solo spot on your own and were placed 1-6.
So I was standing there with the other girls, all pretending to wish each other well, all glitter and hair and make up…(whilst secretly hoping all the others would go over on their ankle)
All nervous.
I decided – I remember it clearly – to shut my eyes and imagine I had already won.
I pictured dancing my routine, taking the trophy, getting the applause..
I went on last, so I had time to do it over and over again.
So by the time it got to my turn, I strutted out onto the floor, looked the judges in the eye, didn’t feel the slightest nerves (because I had already won) and did my thing.
In later years, things like a BIG childrens event, where I had to do a kind of party thing for 700 girls
outdoors in an arena, took major planning and I was panic-stricken the entire time – but even if I was in Toys R Us buying a foam blasting machine an hour beforehand…it got done.
And gradually over the years (I did 603 childrens parties in the end and a fair few hen dos)
came to trust myself.
It always got done, was always (I hope!) good…I didn’t feel nerves I just made sure it was planned.
Some of the things I was asked to do, on paper…looked ridiculous.
And I would never have thought of doing them if I hadn’t been asked.
I am not special…it’s just that trying stuff you didn’t really think you could at first raises your game.
In your effort to do a good job, you practise and learn new things.
You get better than you would before you tried.
This is just what always happens.
A lady watched a video the other day about a class we run – she said; I would love to come, but I cant do that kind of thing.
Not one little bit.
So there’s no point.
Well neither could most of those women in the video to begin with.
If I could let you into my brain (scary place…maybe not..) to show you what ALWAYS happens you would go AHHHHHHH….
Everyone says things look too hard.
Everyone thinks they will give up and it will be scary, everyone is CONVINCED that it is going to be a room full of people ‘not like them’ and they’ll look stupid.
And every single person finds out it is the total opposite.
The totally hardest bit is signing up.
Once you’ve done that – you don’t have to think.
It’s going to happen.
You DEFINITELY look back with so much pride in what you’ve achieved, with new friends and memories.
So can we set everyone a challenge?
Whether it’s applying for a job, going on a course, standing up to your Mother in Law, disabling your FB account, sorting out your finances, getting a daring haircut.. trying a new class…
Can you set one goal this week – where you need to rise to a challenge.
You watch the effect doing that has on everything else.
You turn into a super-hero version of you.
There are lots of ordinary people, about to do something extraordinary for themselves.
Stepping out of their comfort zone, to make themselves happy.
p.s. I won the competition and may or may not have taken part in a ‘mass-moon’ in the coach on the way back.
That’s another story….