I want to talk about what it felt like for me to put myself out of my comfort zone. And the consequences of doing this. As I am writing this and reflecting I am feeling immensely proud of my achievement and giving myself the high fives that we dished out to each other on the course as we completed the activities 🧡

I wonder how many of you would contemplate doing something like this. I’ve asked myself the same question over the past few weeks.

I think I went into this course with a certain amount of naivety which in hindsight was probably helpful because when you are on the course you have no control over what you are doing. This is one of the main aspects of the course and was something that I did struggle with.

As a nurse and business owner, I am in control of everything I do. Familiarity is comforting for many people, so stepping out of their comfort zone can feel overwhelming and daunting. However, personal growth and development often require venturing beyond the bounds of what you currently know, so to get this growth it is important to stretch and try new things.

Well well well have I got a special newsletter for you this month.

As many of you will know I went on an Outward Bound course at the end of August. This turned out to be something that was incredibly challenging for me both physically and mentally.

In this newsletter I want to really talk about what it felt like for me to put myself out of my comfort zone. And the consequences of doing this. As I am writing this and reflecting I am feeling immensely proud of my achievement and giving myself the high fives that we dished out to each other on the course as we completed the activities 🧡 

It’s been 3 weeks since the course finished. The last three weeks have been a time of readjusting back to routines and recovering from the physical effort of being on this demanding course for 8 days.

I wonder how many of you would contemplate doing something like this. I’ve asked myself the same question over the past few weeks.

I think I went into this course with a certain amount of naivety which in hindsight was probably helpful because when you are on the course you have no control over what you are doing. This is one of the main aspects of the course and was something that I did struggle with.

As a nurse and business owner I am in control of everything I do. And familiarity is comforting for many people, so stepping out of their comfort zone can feel overwhelming and daunting. However, personal growth and development often require venturing beyond the bounds of what you currently know, so in order to get this growth it is important to stretch and try new things. 

Many of the physical activities were hard. We rowed a cutter with big wooden oars for what seemed like miles across the Queen Charlotte Sound… which is stunning by the way.

We learnt how to put the sails up and down in the cutter in record time to enable us to get some tows from our instructor’s launch, where they were cooking bacon and eggs! Teamwork was very useful in this situation, because it made a huge difference to our rowing. And OB instructors always throw some unpredictability into the mix so we didn’t get complacent. This included many dips into the cold deep sea water which took my breath away. 

One of the more fearful experiences for me was rolling in a small kayak and waiting underneath the water for my mate to roll me back up to the surface.

The first time I went under I was unable to control my fear so felt very panicky as I came back upright. It’s certainly something I would never have done myself. Acknowledging my fear here was important.

Often, people get overwhelmed when stepping out of their comfort zone, so it’s important for them to ensure they stay in the uncomfortable “learning” zone without pushing themselves into the “terror” zone. An actionable step is to, first, admit when you are afraid. Acknowledging fear immediately allows you to become fully present and focus on taking the next few steps.

I came up and said to the instructor that I was scared automatically and cried. My heart rate was very high, and I knew that I was struggling. He reassured me and once I gained some composure encouraged me to repeat the exercise which I was able to do. Then to top this off we were pushed off the end of the wharf into deep water and relied on two rescue swimmers from our group to right us. I went first for this exercise to get it out of the way.

This was the most frightening experience I have had for a long time however I managed it. Which is something I am so satisfied with. 

Many psychologists and social scientists believe that leaving your zone of comfort can enhance levels of focus and concentration. Alasdair White, the man who coined the term “comfort zone,” hypothesized that to achieve high performance, one must experience a certain amount of stress.

Was this amount of stress necessary for me? I have asked myself this question although I did not have any choice about doing the kayak flipping. This is all part of Outward Bounds practice to push your limits to achieve what you might never have imagined yourself achieving. And now on reflection, I’m proud I achieved it. 

Another part of our week was staying solo in the bush and sleeping under a canvas fly, which I had to erect in the dark. I found the loneliness hard to deal with and the weather was awful.

On our second night we had a severe electrical storm which was frightening for me. I lay on my sleeping mat willing the hours away and eventually praying that we would be rescued…which we were about 8pm. We packed our packs up and walked back down to Anikiwa in torrential rain.

I found it difficult to control my thinking in this situation because I was uncomfortable and out of my comfort zone. This gave me some insight into what I am comfortable doing and what is just too much. I also don’t particularly like mud which seemed to cover everything in my sleeping area after a few trips out to use the bucket or walk a little bit on the track below. I feel my risk tolerance was overreached on solo even though I was probably perfectly safe my mind didn’t think I was.

There is so much more that I could share with you and one day I might share more. My biggest takeaways from my Outward Bound course were:

• That I can do hard/scary things.

• That I want to keep chasing a zest for my life that I showed down there.

• And finally, I want to help other women my age find the courage and determination to take on challenges that will push them too. The support that you get from being with a group of like-minded people is phenomenal and I know that our shared experiences will enable us to be lifelong friends. 

Reach out if you are interested in me coming to talk to any groups about my experience at Outward Bound or if you are simply looking for that special zest for your life then please get in touch.