I first heard this quote from a former manager, and it has been one of those lines that just stuck with me over the years. This year I have been pushing myself far beyond my comfort zone. It has given me all of the feelings and at times has been scary, exciting and uncomfortable. But I am THRILLED with the results.
When you push yourself and your own boundaries, amazing things will happen.
It's incredibly rewarding and sometimes hard, but the growth is unlike any other.
It CHANGES you.
TAKING RISKS
You have to be willing to plant the seeds if you want the garden to grow. Putting yourself out there is always the first step to growth, because when you force yourself or commit to doing something new it can be risky. When I started my TPT journey, I had the mindset of it'll either work or it won't, but I will be content with the result, and almost a year later I am so glad that I did it. Will all of my future ventures be successful? Maybe, maybe not, but I am not giving myself a chance if I don't take the risk and see what happens. Challenge yourself to start taking one risk a week, maybe one a day! Before you know it, taking risks won't be nearly as frightening anymore.
Knowing that we all weigh risks differently in our minds, when you are starting something new a natural reaction is to question whether or not you think the risk will outweigh the benefit. You can always start with baby steps if you are worried about giving 100%, but you need to also remember that until you are giving 100% your growth may be minimal. However, a little bit of growth is better than none! Risk-taking looks different for everyone, but once you are in a comfortable place and can commit to completely investing yourself in whatever you are doing, you are going to see just how far you can really go!
CELEBRATE YOUR SUCCESSES
I am very guilty of downplaying my successes. I think that most of us are, because we worry about it coming across as bragging or being overconfident. If you are like me, you are happy to celebrate your accomplishments privately, but when someone else starts celebrating too, you are quick to divert the topic of the conversation to anything else. It's a fine balance between being humble but also recognizing the amazing things that you are doing.
In order to grow, you need to practise celebrating YOU and everything that YOU have accomplished. Make sure to take the time to reflect and to be proud because is key in your continued growth. It also allows you to feel energized and excited!
I made this Celebrate Your Success Tracker that you can download FOR FREE to keep track of all of the wonderful things that you have done. Click above or on the picture to download.
GIVE YOURSELF GRACE & EMBRACE THE FAILS
It sounds harsh, but you will fail. I know that some people like to say that there is no such thing as a failure, in my opinion failures are real. Sometimes everything blows up in your face and there is nothing you can do about it. You might feel sad, angry or maybe even embarrassed and that is totally okay! Failures are an inevitable part of life, so whether you like them or not they will happen, especially when you are taking risks and pushing yourself far beyond your comfort zone.
That being said, defining moments in life come from the decisions that follow after a failure. Embrace an open mindset if you want to be able to grow from your failures. Acknowledge what went wrong, why it went wrong, and develop a plan for improvement that you can implement going forward. By taking the time to reflect, you are giving yourself grace which is a just a fancy way of saying that you are being kind to yourself.
So I'll leave you with a couple of guiding questions to help you on your journey into risk-taking.
What risks will you be taking, and how do you plan to grow?
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