Get Out of Your Comfort Zone (with comfort)

Transcription

Hi, Troy Dean here and I just wanted to make this short video because recently I've been speaking at a lot of conferences and talking to some very high achievers – people who invented the Jetpack for example, Michelle Bridges, and people who are operating at the top level and who are at the top of their game.

One of the things that I've been learning and realizing is that we all have the voice of doubt.

We all have the voices in our head that tell us that we can't do it, or that we're not good enough, or that no one will believe us. We all suffer from impostor syndrome. Everyone suffers from impostor syndrome. Just understand that. It doesn't matter who you are, everyone suffers from impostor syndrome. So let's just acknowledge that and put it aside for the time being.

That doesn't actually help us deal with impostor syndrome. Just because we know other people suffer from it or experience it, doesn't help us deal with it. What I've learned is that people who are really good at dealing with impostor syndrome have frameworks that they use – that they kind of use as scaffolding if you like, or a support system to help them get out of their comfort zone.

I'll give you an example. When I first started consulting with clients, I really had no idea what to say in meetings and I would just walk in and say to the clients, “How are you? What's going on?” I would let them run the meeting and I would just listen. I felt really uncomfortable and nervous and I'm sure that came across. The kind of clients that I worked with and the kind of work I was doing and how much I was getting paid was all reflecting my level of experience and my level of confidence.

Then I learned this one little framework that I now teach our members in our mastermind group. The framework is called, “Go Wide, Go Deep.” It allows me to really control or own the process of meeting with a client and get the information I need in order to come back with a great solution. Very simply, I just remember ‘go wide, go deep’ whenever I ask them a question. Eg. “Why do you need an online marketing strategy?”

They answer the question and they tell me why. I got a ‘why’. I'll say, “Well, why else? Why else? Why else?” I try and stretch that as much as I can. Then I ask them to identify the most important reason and then I go deep on that one. I say, “Why is that one the most important reason?” That whole ‘go wide, go deep’ framework now gives me the confidence to walk into any meeting with any client, of any caliber, any budget and have a great meeting with them and get the information I need to come back with a great proposal. It's lifted my confidence 100-fold.

I don't know if this is helpful to you at all, but I hope it is. I would suggest that you take one part of your life or your business where you are really looking to improve and you feel a little bit nervous or you feel uncomfortable – which is good, because it's only when you do the awkward uncomfortable things that you're actually evolving and growing.

Find something that you want to do that makes you uncomfortable and then find a framework that allows you to do that and to feel a little bit more comfortable and get your confidence up. When I started running for example, when I started doing, not long distance, but when I started running five kilometers for example, I would just break it down into bite sized chunks. For example, I just run to the next tree, run to the tree after that, run to that next tree after that.

Eventually, you hit the pavement and you can run 5Ks. It's not overwhelming because you've got some structure to help you through it. Find whatever it is you want to do in your business or your life that you think that you need to pay attention to and that you want to improve on. Develop some kind of framework to help you, to give you some structure and give you some confidence and then just start practicing it.

I'd love to hear your comments underneath this video. Tell me if this has been helpful to you.

Until next time, I'm Troy Dean.