No, I Don't Want To!

Yesterday morning, the first appointment on my schedule was to attend a networking event that I had never attended before. To add to my anxiety it was at a location that would take a little bit of thought to figure out where it was.

I also had a second networking event at the same time that I usually attend each month that was on my schedule. I knew where that was and knew who would be there.

Listen to a recording of the voices in my head yesterday morning:

"Oh, you don't want to go to (new event) because you won't know anybody."

"You should go to (familiar event), it's safe and you'll meet people you're comfortable with."

"You know you're going to get lost."

"What if they act like you shouldn't be there?"

"Is it really a good use of your time?"

"No, you'd better go, because MB (a friend) invited you."

So I ignored the voices and did go. Guess what!

They didn't look at me like a had two heads.

I actually carried on conversations with a couple people I already knew.

I ran into someone that my presence triggered a question from him.

I made acquaintance with a new person who lives in a area where we are filling one of our Certified Networker classes.

Lesson Learned?

Do the difficult, scary stuff an it won't be so difficult and scary. It might even have a future ROI.

When did you push yourself outside your comfort zone and how did it turn out?