Ready. Authenticity and your Comfort Zone

“All true parts of you enhance your well-being. Your comfort zone too. Sit out the fad of "getting out of it". Watch your peace of mind return. Why? It isn't stuck. It is rest, the womb. It's where the next step begins... when you're Truly ready.” — Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, Mom.

"Another case of, "not everything in quotes is fact". You do not have to "get out of your comfort zone". Comfort isn't keeping you back." — Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, Mom

Comfort Zone

This refers to your true comfort zone. Often confused with periods of feeling boredom, fear or paralysis for whatever reason, I do not believe this to be your comfort zone. Unless you're burnt out or need a long break, binging Netflix (or novels as I used to) will make your bum numb. That's not comfortable. Perfectionism procrastination and analysis paralysis, I assure you, even when familiar, are not comfortable. Fear, of uncertainty, death, failure, anything, is not comfortable. Staying small to keep or belong to the familiar, also grows uncomfortable when you're truly ready for your stretch zone.

Your comfort zone, however, is where you, uniquely, are comfortable. You know. Guard down, shoulders relaxed, breathing easy, nothing but leisure on the mind, comfortable. Comfortable.

Stretch and Panic Zones

Your stretch zone is just beyond your comfort zone, and is where growth happens — to expand your comfort zone. Not shrink it or make it disappear, but to expand it. It must be important. When unforced, when it happens organically, you're enjoying the process—whether adrenaline junky or super-cautious—because it honours your own, innate pace. It's why I speak so much about individual sovereignty.

You see, leaving your comfort zone before you're ready can push you straight into your panic zone, which is usually the zone that warns you to stop 🛑 and go back. Going there on someone else's terms, rather than when you are ready, may well cause you to shrink your comfort zone and stretch zones, if the experience is too traumatic. When we bypass the comfort zone and start living in the stretch zone and the panic zone, that's when anxiety, depression, feeling unsettled and second-guessing ourselves, become the norm. All because You didn't wait until your inner strength and reserves were ready. I wonder how many mental health issues arise here?

All three zones are necessary, in their healthy forms, but we aren't meant to Live in our stretch or panic zones. If the trauma of leaving before you're ready is too intense, all of the zones shrink and you find yourself living in fear. Things you'd grown to embrace in comfort, over time, move back into the stretch and panic zones, because something outside of you made you believe you had to leave comfort to grow. Please don't.

Ready?

Ready. Many say that you're never really ready to move into your stretch zone. I invite you to consider, deep within yourself, whether or not you really believe this to be true. When you're ready to leave your unique comfort zone, you will be met with the unique ratio of exhilaration and apprehension that only you are comfortable (there's that word again) with. A ratio that brings with it a level of confidence that you really want this next level of growth and that it's worth whatever you face to have it.

I had this dream. In it, I'm surfing this monster wave that had taken many lives before. As I look down, I see the skeletons of those lost — my ancestors, I believe. My brain is sending off alarm bells, “whaaaat are you doing???” Yet, every other aspect of my being is 100% sure that this is my time to take this wave, that I will succeed where those before me failed, that my ancestors know too that this is why I'm here. I am overtaken by this deep sense of confidence, love and certainty. The knowledge that this is exactly as it should be almost lights me on fire, I am so sure. I am so ready. Ready.

I cannot speak for you. In my life, there were several milestones like this that stand out — and many little ones that compounded quickly for me as an entrepreneur — including moving to Canada, going to the Schulich School of Business to read for my MBA, having my own business and one of my earliest knowing moments, having my daughter. There are others, but these come to mind right now. They have all yielded personal growth — professional, sure — but personal growth, in the most unexpected ways.

Self-Trust, Authenticity. Unique You

Trust yourself to know when you're ready. No coach, parent, spouse or other, can know that. Self-discovery takes time, sure, but it really is worth it. Authenticity really does bring resilience, because when you go deep within to find what is true for and about yourself, self-acceptance brings unshakeable confidence. It is far easier to “live and let live” when you're secure in yourself. May you learn to recognize your intuition when it speaks, and may you always seek your own counsel first and last.

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About Crystal-Marie

Crystal-Marie Sealy, MBA, is a dedicated mom, keynote speaker, two-time best-selling author and strategy consultant. As author and speaker, Crystal-Marie is focused on resilience through authenticity, self-acceptance and individual sovereignty. Her business talks are around mindful entrepreneurship through pricing, lean process, and feasible schedules for inspired creativity and focused productivity. She also delivers corporate training around client-centric social media strategy. As a strategy consultant, and president and founder of Crystal-Marie Sealy—previously Successiory (2011-2019)—Crystal-Marie's signature "Mindful Entrepreneurship for Mindful Affluence™" empowers premium service professionals to create businesses they can truly thrive in. Good-bye rat race. Hello blue ocean. Earn more. Work less. Live abundantly. Connect with Crystal-Marie at www.CrystalMarieSealy.com