The 4 Stages of Growth
“Our self-limiting beliefs lie to us about our potential. And always will.”
However.
To become successful in any pursuit such as running your own one-person business, the best path forward begins with recognizing where you are at now, and where you want to ideally end up.
There are stages to growth.
Looking at the chart, we can see that there are four zones of growth.
The first zone is the comfort zone.
The second zone is the fear zone.
The third is the learning zone.
And the fourth is the growth zone.
Growth is where we want to get to, while comfort is where we begin.
The Comfort Zone
The comfort zone is the place where you feel safe and in control.
The living room couch with the TV remote in your hand.
The PlayStation controller within reach.
Hanging out. With only your friends.
In public and not speaking to anybody who is unfamiliar to you.
This is the epitome of the comfort zone. And trust me, it is nice.
It seems as though today, many people are stuck here.
Anything that is uncomfortable….
Anything that would be outside of this comfort zone…
Is a no-go.
“Do not enter into that territory.”
…Is the motto that seems to be lived out by so many.
Which as motivated, One person business owners, Or those that are excited to potentially jump into this career path…
This leaves, massive opportunity on the table. For people like us.
What happens when you cross the comfort zone?
The very next thing that you're going to feel. And experience. Is fear.
The Fear Zone
In the fear zone, you're doing things that you haven't done before.
You don't know how it's going to turn out for you. Because you haven't done it before.
It's like cutting through the jungle for the first time ever, when all you've ever done is walk paths that have always been pre-cut for you.
When you're in this fear zone you may find yourself lacking self-confidence.
You may start to create excuses as to why this choice wasn't good.
And why you need to retreat back to what was comfortable and familiar.
In the fear zone you will feel very exposed.
You will feel, especially if you were sharing your journey online, posting on social media, or putting yourself out there in the world…
You will feel very vulnerable.
As if you are under a microscope.
And with that feeling comes a high sensitivity to the opinions of others.
You are personally affected by any feedback whether it be positive or negative.
We're not typically thinking about the wonderful opportunity that lies ahead.
We're not looking at this from an optimistic point of view…
When we're in the fear zone, we feel scared and can quickly become pessimistic.
And it is in our human nature to run from these feelings.
So this is the pivotal zone where the major decision is made.
To either retreat like most do, or stick to your guns, believe in yourself, and trudge forward.
As you do that, you will creep closer to the next zone.
Your fear and discomfort become more manageable because you've spent more time here. This fear zone becomes familiar to you.
A great example is for those who perform music or sing on stage. To those who have never done it before, it seems almost like a superpower to have the confidence required to go up in front of a group of people and do something so vulnerable.
The fear zone is nerve-wracking.
Coming from my own experience, it is definitely nerve-wracking. I have performed singing, playing guitar, playing bass guitar, or a combination of the three, easily 1000+ times at this point in my life.
Do I still feel uncomfortable on stage sometimes?
Yes. That's the fear zone.
But it has become familiar to me.
I'm used to standing on a stage.
I'm used to hearing my voice in a microphone being amplified out into a bigger room.
These are things that, were once unfamiliar and scary….
Have become familiar and dare I say… Enjoyable.
The Learning Zone
As we push through the fear zone and land in the learning zone, we're able to begin to deal with the challenges and the problems that arise.
We're able to think more clearly.
We're able to build new skills because we've broken through the fear and are out there trying new things.
If you were nervous to knock on doors, door-to-door salesmen style, you get a handful of doors under your belt, and you can get through that initial fear and discomfort, and you start to actually get better at the conversation that you have with each homeowner that you speak with.
You start to shake off the nerves and beomce better at your craft - whatever it is that you're selling or whatever message you're trying to spread.
This extends your comfort zone and puts you in a place to hone your craft.
To get better and level up.
You are now learning by trying and doing.
At this point in the learning zone, you have growing level of experience built through trail and error. You’ve likely won a few times and failed a lot.
This is good.
The game of solopreneurship is scored not by the points you gain, but rather the reps you’ve completed. Winners win not by the points they score but by the reps they are willing to put in to get sharper over time.
As you continue to learn, what happens is there's a bleed-over into the fourth and most ideal zone to get yourself into, and that is the growth zone.
The Growth Zone
This is where you begin to capitalize on everything that you have done leading up to this point. In the growth zone, you're able to conquer bigger objectives, set new goals, and expand your horizon.
You're now living your dreams and working towards things that bring you purpose and pride.
The growth zone cannot be reached by remaining comfortable.
Your dream outcome will never happen if you're not willing to be uncomfortable.
You’ll have to face your fears.
Push through the process of learning through trial and error.
And only through those three zones can you break into the growth zone for yourself.
Using the zones of growth chart as a visual reminder to how you're feeling currently and where you're at on your path is a great hack to help you quiet the self-limiting beliefs or moments of doubt that creep up.
The successful people that you look up to continually have to quiet their self-limiting emotions and amplify the vision of their ideal horizon.
Also recognize…
You can be in different zones in multiple areas of your life all at the same time.
For instance, I am in the learning zone of content creation.
I have become comfortable with being uncomfortable. I have become familiar with hitting post and upload, knowing that I may receive vicious feedback on the ideas and thoughts that I share.
Whereas, I am still in the comfort zone when it comes to creating new connections with others in this industry that I see as successful. I struggle to feel comfortable with reaching out because I have self-limiting beliefs that are piling up in my brain, telling me that I'm going to bother them or that I don't have enough of a following to deserve reaching out to them via email or Instagram DMs or whatever.
In order for me to build these connections, these high-value connections, I am going to have to break out of my comfort zone, spend time in the fear zone, become familiar with what it feels like to do this, and I will learn and grow and build fantastic connections along the way.
In each area of your personal and professional life, you will find yourself in one of these zones.
Without intentional effort, you will not be leaving the comfort zone in any area of your life.
Growth requires intentional action and continual reminders that the feelings of fear, the lack of self-confidence, the excuses that come up, the lack of skills that you have at this current point in your journey… Is completely normal, and is all okay.
What is not okay is if you choose to use that ammunition to convince yourself that you shouldn't move forward regardless of the friction.
“Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”
-Winston Churchill
Til Next Time ✌️🙂
Ev
