#9 - The magic of being uncomfortable
AKA why stepping out of our comfort zone is our best ally
Outset updates
In case you missed it, we’ve been featured on Ashleigh Frater’s Free from Burnout podcast (listen to the full episode on Spotify!).
We’ve also taken part in a panel discussing ways we can help women rise to senior leadership roles in healthtech at the EmpowerHER event in London (you can appreciate both my poor posture and the back of Nick’s head in one lovey shot).
Spotlight
In our previous edition, we talked about quitting, whether it’s quiet or loud, and why we should maybe do it more often. Today we talk about stepping out of our comfort zone, one baby step at a time.
Discount influencing and comfort zones
If you’d have asked me a year ago:
Sonia, do you see yourself becoming an Instagram influencer?
I would have laughed my head off - and I would have been extremely worried about your mental health.
Fast forward to today, and I’ve got a ring light, I’m learning how to use video hooks and how to edit shorts, and I’m obsessing over my video stats like a 14-year old who just started their Twitch account and hopes to never work a day in their life.
Whilst the irony of this is not lost on me, it made me think about our intrinsic resistance to trying new things. The funny thing about it is that we are reluctant until we don’t have a choice - there is no way I can grow our social media presence without making a fool of myself in front of a camera.
(If you don’t know either of these references, it’s time to take some time off and make up for it my friend!)
It’s a matter of either overcoming your fears or giving up on succeeding entirely.
And here’s the thing: I’m not going to repeat it elsewhere (and neither should you, I’m trusting you), but it’s kinda fun. I’m learning things that are completely out of my expertise and that make me feel extremely uncomfortable.
It is a feeling that I had to come to terms with recently - running a business means being constantly outside of your comfort zone - yet there is something rather beautiful about it.
It’s opened up the possibility of experimenting and fine-tuning skills. It helped me understand what level of discomfort I can live with versus what I should be delegating (believe me, I am looking forward to the day I can hire an accountant and take a backseat in dealing with books and taxes).
Turning NOs into MAYBEs
The same is often true for health.
Most of the times, we are reluctant to act until something happens that forces us to confront our reticence - our doctor telling us we need to be more active or else we risk complications later in life, a family member having a health scare, a burnout.
One of the reasons we are so resistant to change is that we perceive it as very costly. A survey of 2,086 UK adults found that the main barriers for leading a healthier lifestyle are, unsurprisingly, being too tired (35%) and lacking motivation (38%).
But what if we started confronting our innate “hell, no!” with baby steps instead?
When we think about what a healthy life looks like, often times it’s very distant from where we are now - maybe we don’t move enough, we don’t eat well enough, we have that bad habit we’ve been trying to quit for years without much luck.
If we approach it with an all or nothing attitude, it looks almost like an impossible task - but if we think about it as one little step at a time instead, it all starts being much more achievable.
Playing with our boundaries a little bit everyday, pushing them just a teeny tiny bit further, is much easier than having to revolutionize our whole life.
It could look something like this:
What if today I jog instead of walking?
What if I swap the chips for broccoli tonight?
What if I get a standing desk and a walking pad?
What if I walk to the store instead of driving?
This way, we face our tendency to say no with a series of maybes that turn into yeses in the long run.
In the news
If I haven’t given you enough good reasons to exercise yet, this new study might just do the trick - researchers found that exercise increases cancer-killing white blood cells count in breast cancer patients.
If you’re a hoarder like me (yes, we don’t need to wash and keep all takeaways containers), I’ve got bad news for you: being surrounded by clutter negatively impacts mental health. Might be time for some summer cleaning!
If you’ve seen our latest short (talking about being a discount influencer, eh?) you know I’m a hula hoop fan - turns out, I’m in good company and it looks like it’s a trend on the rise, with laughter and embarrassment guaranteed.
Gem of the week (and why you should care)
You gotta love a grandma - even more so when they’re literally providing therapy for free.
A new trend in Zimbabwe, where access to mental health services is challenging, is seeing grandmothers sitting on benches, waiting to lend an ear to whomever may need support. After its success, the trend is now expanding, with programs inspired by it launched in New York and Washington.
Those behind the program cite grandmothers’ wisdom and empathy as the key factors making them a great choice for the job (they’ve clearly never met my grandma).
So if you’ve got a grandma, or a grandma-like figure in your life, it might be good to put some time in the diary for a chat!
That’s all, folks.
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Thanks for reading this edition and see you next week!
Sonia Ponzo
CEO and Founder at Outset Wellness