TJ Walker tells Grace that growth happens when you push past comfort. He compares it to tennis and weightlifting: speak to bigger crowds, try live shows, host instead of guest, do it more often. Small challenges build the confidence that makes harder ones possible.
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Time for Question of the Day. This comes from Grace. She's a student in my course, the Complete Communication Skills Masterclass for Life. The question is, how can stepping outside your comfort zone strengthen your communication and personal growth? Well, Grace, the only way to grow in anything, not just communication, but any skill, is to go outside your comfort zone. If you want to be a world class tennis player, you can't just stay in your comfort zone of playing in your own little club against the same 10 people where you always win. At some point you have to go to a city tournament, a regional state, a national tournament. You have to constantly test yourself to be better players if you really want to become a world class professional tennis player. It's the only way. You don't get there by just playing with your friends. When it comes to communication, if you only speak to groups of five people or fewer, because that's what you're comfortable with, you'll never grow. You have to actively seek opportunities to speak to larger groups. If you are used to doing a podcast, for example, you may want to test yourself by going live doing a live show that tests you in a different way. If all you've ever done is interview other people and put a spotlight on them, you might test yourself, expand yourself by doing your own commentary for a whole show and not even having a guest is one way. You don't have to do it that way, but I want you to always look for more opportunities, whether it's speaking to a larger audience than usual, whether it is going from being a guest on a podcast to launching your own and hosting your own. Maybe you thought the most you could ever do was a once a month podcast or a once a week podcast. For you, going outside your comfort zone may be saying, let me try doing a daily podcast. I urge you. Think of stretching yourself. It doesn't have to be about more money or more power or becoming obsessed with fame, but I do want you to be obsessed with improvement. And the way to do that is just a little bit further. Ask any great weightlifter or bodybuilder. You can't just lift the same amount of weight after three years of training that you did the first week. You've got to up the weight gradually. You've got to strengthen the muscle so that you can continue lifting more weight. Maybe not every day, maybe not even every week, but once a month. If you're not increasing the amount of weight you're lifting, your muscles aren't getting stronger or bigger. So, Grace, I wish you luck and I hope you continue challenging yourself and looking for more opportunities in every aspect of your life so that you continue to grow your own personal development and your own communication skills. Thanks for writing. I want to thank you for watching today and listening. If you are new to the podcast, thanks so much for joining us. Please leave comments subscribe if you are on YouTube, sign up for notifications. Subscribe and leave comments on every single video you watch. We love participation. I read every single comment. I try to answer every single every single question. If you are listening on our podcast, thanks so much for doing it. We're relatively new in the whole audio podcasting game so please, please take a moment and follow us on your favorite podcasting platform. Subscribe to us. There's no charge and if you liked anything about this show please leave a review. Preferably one with this many stars and I'm holding up five fingers. Thanks so much. See you tomorrow.
