Seven ways I left my comfort zone

Hello and welcome to my blog. If you are new here, my name is Victoria. I help ladies just like you create beautiful lives with modern elegance and personal growth. I’m always telling the ladies in my email list and the readers of my blog that it is very important to get as far away from your comfort zone as possible. This year I did my best to try new things and I definitely think I did a great job. Today I’m sharing 7 ways that I left my comfort zone this year. Hopefully this will inspire you to do the same.

Ice skating

The fact that I had never been ice skating in my entire life until January 2021 is crazy. I know people do a lot of ice skating during the winter holidays but I never had the opportunity. Neither of my parents knew how to ice skate so they never took me as a kid. When I grew up I didn’t have any interest and I was actually quite nervous because I thought I would fall and get hurt. 

When I finally gave it a try I realized that it was extremely easy. I used to rollerblade a lot when I was young so I definitely felt comfortable on the ice skates. Even when I went I saw adults who had never skated but were doing their best to give it a try. I loved that other people are also getting out of their comfort zone.

Skateboarding

My husband used to skateboard a lot when he was in high school so he was able to help me give it a try for the first time. I had never been on a skateboard. Growing up I definitely preferred rollerblading. We went to a nearby park and I gave it a try. I suppose it was easy if you are on a flat surface but I was definitely scared of falling but I would like to give it a try again before it gets cold outside.

Baking cupcakes from scratch

I’ve been baking cupcakes with my kids since they were tiny but I have always used store bought cake mix. I want to start learning how to make things from scratch so I figured I should start with the basics. I quickly realized that baking a cake from scratch is a lot of work compared to using a cake mix from a box. 

We didn’t just make the cake from scratch, we made the icing too! It was a bit easier to make than the cake was but still very time consuming. We decided to make pastel cupcakes since this was in the spring time so we used food coloring to make a lot of different pastel colored icing. After we topped the cupcakes with pastel sprinkles I realized that we didn’t just create a delicious treat, we created art! They tasted amazing by the way.

Kickboxing

Kickboxing was SO MUCH FUN! Where do I even begin? Okay I have been getting back into my workouts now that summer is over. The issue for me is that when it comes to cardio and burning calories I would rather do something very high intensity but short instead of being on a treadmill for an hour. 

I tried basic HIIT workouts on youtube but I found that I was bored by the individual exercises. I wanted something that was intense but still a lot of fun. I signed up for an introductory class at The Kick House for only $5 and it was so much fun. It was extremely intense. By the last ten minutes of class I was absolutely exhausted and wasn’t sure if I could even finish!

I was able to pull through and I felt extremely hungry afterwards. I had eaten a healthy dinner right before class so the fact that I was starving after class meant that I definitely burned a lot of energy. I will definitely be going back for more classes.

Surfing

I tried surfing over the summer during my vacation to North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I’m very happy that I made the choice to take a private lesson instead of try to watch a youtube video and teach myself because I never would have been able to do it alone.

We vacation in South Carolina every year and at the end of last year I decided that I wanted to try surfing on our next vacation. I added it to my vision board and was determined to make it happen.

It’s hard to go outside of your comfort zone and try something you’ve never done before. I am not athletic, I only visit the beach a couple of times per year and I had never even touched a surfboard in my life. I took my lessons from Kokopelli surf camp. If you are ever in the North Myrtle Beach area and want to take a surf lesson I highly recommend them!

I was able to ride the wave all the way to shore I think only once but I was able to stand on the board several times. Honestly if I can do it then anyone can. It was so much fun!

Raising butterflies

I’ve always wanted to be a part of the magical journey that caterpillars experience during their lifetime. I had looked into raising butterflies last year but I never made it happen. Over the summer I met a friend of a friend who raises them every year. She offered to give me a couple of caterpillars and I said no because I was terrified.

I thought I would do something wrong and the caterpillars would die.

The following weekend though, I mustered up the courage to ask her for a couple of caterpillar babies. She gave me 4 caterpillars, each at different stages so I could get a good experience. Not only was it a lot of fun, but it was an absolutely beautiful experience and I’m so grateful that I got to be a part of it!

I’m still completely amazed by the transformation from caterpillar to butterfly, and releasing the butterflies was a lot of fun. I might even do it again next summer. 

Several different types of cuisines

I knew I wanted to start trying different types of food. I feel like I have very limited taste because when I was growing up I never tried other types of food. I don’t even remember having Chinese food or Mexican food aside from homemade tacos. This year I tried Indian, French and Jamaican cuisine.

I loved them all but I think I liked the traditional curry chicken the most. It was very spicy but very, very good. I will definitely be trying a lot of new foods next year as well.

The bottom line

I’m so glad that I took the necessary steps to get out of my comfort zone this year. Those moments have been some of my favorite moments of the year because I took a leap of faith and did things that I never thought I would do. I am growing as a person and becoming happier as a result.

I hope this post motivated you to do the same!