Robin Van Gyn, a snowboarding champion on stepping out of your comfort zone.

Humans have a way of imposing limitations on themselves.

This comes from our habit of becoming comfortable in familiar situations. Last week, I was reading about Robin Van Gyn who is a world-famous backcountry snowboarder. Even after being one of the most influential riders till date and being ranked #2 on the Women’s Rider of the Year list’2017, she recently decided to expand her horizons and take a shot at another sport that she finds way more intimidating than snowboarding; surfing.

I know what you’re thinking. Why is someone like her who has achieved so much in her chosen career not content with where she is? Why would she decide to jump into something completely new and intimidating now?

“You can leave me on top of any mountain and I would easily snowboard my way down, but sailing on one-foot waves humbles and intimidates me”, she said.

Life begins outside your comfort zone

Naturally, we have a habit of confining ourselves to places and responsibilities that we already know about. Once we learn something, we stick to it making it our forté and using that as an excuse to save ourselves from literally every other thing in the world. This is how we avoid uncertainty and the anxiety that comes with it.

Don’t get me wrong, I applaud people who give enough time and dedication to something that they excel at it. But the question is, why stop there? Why put yourself in a box? Why define yourself with just one thing? Why limit yourself to the things you already know? And why not pursue your “one-foot waves” ?

It is actually in the storm of uncertainty and challenge that you truly discover yourself. Your strengths, your hidden talents, your ability to learn and adapt. True accomplishments lie outside of your comfort zone. Yeah there’s a chance of failure, but what about the higher chances of you coming out stronger, more knowledgeable, more skilled, more successful? Point is, you’ll never know unless you try. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Even though I personally believe that new year resolutions are a sort of reckless optimism, I propose that you make it an aim this year to get out of that damn comfort zone.

Just like Robin, find your one-foot wave and sail it. Step outside the box. Feed your imagination. And in the beautiful words of Kyra Davis, discover the sensuality of fear. Face it. Challenge it. Dance with it!

Where do I start?

Hey, I’m not just here to say big things and leave. I like prose as much as the next person but there is no way we’re achieving anything without practicality. So here’s what you do, you break it down.

Start with something very small like taking a different route home or learning that instrument you always wanted to learn or painting the view from your terrace or painting the view you wish you had from your terrace or turning that last break up into a poem or enrolling in the literature class that will help you write that poem, anything!

The possibilities are endless. Even a tiny change in your daily routine will cause a huge ripple effect that will expand your vision of yourself and your true potential.

All you need to do is take one hour out every day to challenge yourself!

Now, I wouldn’t be a true well-wisher if I didn’t address the fact that we’re all lazy and life is too damn fast these days. Time really is money and what we can do for you is make sure that at least your cleaning is taken care of, so you save that precious time. This is our goal, here at Queendom Cleaning. To take cleaning out of your long to-do list so you get the freedom to do what you love.

Therefore my friend, use your time wisely. Who knows? What if that one hour ends up changing your whole life?