Take a leap of faith in yourself.
It's so important to have faith in yourself and strive to champion your own potential. As the saying goes - we achieve what we believe.
So, whatever it is we want to achieve - we have to believe it first!
So many amazing women I know lack self-belief which limits their ability to step outside their comfort zone as they don't want to risk failure. Imposter Syndrome, feeling afraid of being found out, is very powerful at keeping us in our comfort zone where we feel safe and in control. But - we can't learn and grow and reach our potential unless we step outside our safe space and say "yes" to things that scare us.
Of course there is a chance that stepping outside your comfort zone could result in mistakes, embarrassment, maybe even failure because nobody is perfect. However, the negative consequences are rarely as bad as we think and the positive consequences far outweight them. What is certain is that you will learn something about yourself every time and this is priceless. In fact I think it's the only way we find our purpose and reach our goals.
We can practice saying "yes" to things that scare us in all sorts of ways to gradually build our foundation of faith in ourselves. I asked some of my Stemazing community about this...
Sally told me "I faced a fear of swimming out of my depth by swimming off a boat on holiday last week! It was a big deal for me swimming in open water. I was exhilarated afterwards so will strive to remember that feeling to tap into it in the future!"
Virginia told me "A time I said YES, was when I was offered the chance to Chair a Board of a very diverse Industry Body. Everyone there was super talented and different to me, so it was very scary (imposter syndrome included). However, looking back we accomplished SO many things and I made so many new connections it turned out to be one of the highlights of my career to date!"
I always feel like I'm stepping outside my comfort zone, but I've learnt to have faith in myself thanks to experience, mentors and a great support network. No matter what incredible things we may achieve, I don't think we ever stop needing to step outside our comfort zone - as this zone just gets bigger and then we realise we can be courageous and take another step into even greater learning and growth.
So what will you say "yes" to next?