I mean seriously:

Doing the exact same thing every day for the rest of your life gets old.
Living on the same side of town in the same apartment for years on top of years on top of years gets old.
Working at a dead end job with no opportunity for growth or promotion gets old.

Are you picking up on a pattern here? Because I am. A life defined by comfort zones and lived in fear will always get old, boring and tiring. So we should all consider taking a few steps out of our chosen areas of comfort to explore foreign territory. Or in my personal case, running out the door and around the corner on my pursuit of trying to walk within my destined purpose.

The act of leaving one’s comfort zone is not to be taken lightly. It’s built upon venturing out into the unknown and leaving behind familiarity, which can be scary.

So I present to you three essential things to remember when trying to break out of life as you know it in pursuit of embracing a different kind of lifestyle. One that couldn’t be achieved if you stayed within your current comfort zone and continued to live in fear.

Don’t do it all at once, but do it

It takes a lot to become brave enough to step outside of your comfort zone and follow dreams that might not seem to fit neatly into your current lifestyle. Dreams that could be seen as illogical by some and even frowned upon by others. But you only get one life, so live it! *snaps in Z formation*

Even though this world isn’t always fair, you’re ultimately in full control of steering yours and should never feel as though your dreams should stay just as they are – dreams.

There will be people who doubt you and your ability

Beware, you will have to deal with naysayers and people who won’t give you a chance to prove you can do it. Their reasoning can often go unsaid. But in most cases, it’s usually because they don’t believe in you or have already constructed a preconceived opinion of you based on what they see or read.

Whether it be because of your gender, sexual orientation, race or even age, there will always be people who find an excuse not to employ or believe in you.

Although it can be hard for a lot of us to grasp the fact that not everyone will want to see us win, it IS something that we must all learn to cope with. These people can be found in all walks of life, from co-workers to even your own family members. They don’t want you to be successful! But what do you do when that happens… you be SUCCESSFUL! *daps you up*

Be your own biggest stan

Yeah, I said it! Stan for you, boo! I want you to love you like Kanye loves Kanye. Well, maybe not on that level just yet, but I’m sure you get it. Remember to always believe in yourself and doors will open. If you don’t believe in you, how can you expect to be able to convince someone else to?

You are a success story in the making and you will achieve your goals if you continue to push yourself. You will transform into the person you have spent your entire life dreaming of becoming and should never allow anyone to tell you that you won’t.

So I say to you, continue to dream big and continue to walk within your full purpose with no fear at all of leaving your comfort zone.

Follow your dreams.

Don’t allow others to scare you out of following your dreams.

Be your own biggest fan.

A lane paved by you is one that you will never have to deal with traffic on.

Stay strong and don’t let society or politics box you into a comfort zone that you have worked so hard to break out of.

Katra Cunningham

Writing since July 2016 · 1 story contributed