Is This Your Comfort Zone?Depositphotos.com — Is This Your Comfort Zone?
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What would you never do? Sing in public, dance at a concert, give a speech? Yikes! I’d never do those things either.

Our comfort zone is self explanatory. It’s my favorite blanket, a home cooked meal, or a my cozy set of pajamas. But it’s also how I get stuck in a rut. No matter how much gas I give, the wheels keep spinning and spinning and I end up uninspired and unimaginative.

What to do about it? Do what I’d never do:

Go to a karaoke bar (far away where no one knew me) and sing.
Have fun dancing at the park with my child (in front of complete strangers).
Give an impromptu summary of a topic at a club (I belong to in front of a few friends).

I have to do something uncomfortable. I put in some rules in order to accomplish my uncomfortable activities but the trick is to do them somehow. Of course, the ideas above give me the swirly sensation in my stomach after eating a bad sandwich. Yet...

Doing them might just provide confidence and a new way of looking at something. And when there comes a time when my creative confidence is low I can remember these times. I was able to overcome fear, get out there, and open myself to a new experience. A rut is a merry go round which harms my creative spirit despite the fact of how much I like being there!

The ideas of how to get out of rut don’t always come right away. And when you do your uncomfortable activity you might tell yourself I’ll never do THAT again. That’s okay. When we know something doesn’t fit it makes no sense to buy it. Inspiration doesn’t require you to purchase something that isn’t you or continually do something that makes you turn green. But if your rut feels like a comfy hoodie you’ve had since high school (which was YEARS ago) it might be time to take it off and try something new. Just for a little while.

Let me know how it goes.