Michelle B (muchelleb)

Have you found that in your life?

Yeah, but it's when you take almost a few too many steps outside of your comfort zone and you enter your panic zone that I think it becomes less helpful.

So for me, I...

This year, actually, I've gone down the path of setting myself little discomfort challenges.

So these are just personal challenges, not something that I publish online where I'll pick something that I'm like, oh, that makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

I need to do it.

I don't pick anything that's in my panic zone, but I will pick things that I'm like, oh, I don't know about that.

I have I've managed social anxiety and usually be social anxiety about some very bizarre things.

But so at the start of this year, for example, I.

was really freaked out by the idea of going to a cafe and sitting with my little laptop and typing in public.

I, you know, anyone who has social anxiety that's listening, they understand you get into your head about these things that just don't make sense.

You logically know no one's going to judge you.

Um, yet still you're like, um, so I challenged myself every day for five days to just go to a cafe.

I switched up the cafes that I went to, um,

and just sit there for an hour, get a coffee and sit through that discomfort.

But the way I actually started off was by going to a local library because I was like, I'm really comfortable with the library.

I'm familiar with the library.

And that was how I sort of connected it to my comfort zone in a way.

by starting in that very safe space and to be clear after those five days I was like wow that was such a ridiculous fear and I'm completely fine with working at cafes now but you've got to push yourself into those little discomfort moments in order to and create safe experiences in your discomfort zone as well in order to let your brain know that those experiences are okay and grow your comfort zone a little.

Yeah, definitely.