Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the Further your Lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hustles. My name's Chris, I am your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you. Episode 201, nearly went 101 there, episode 201, which is a great milestone to achieve Now passing that 200 mark, which, again, if you haven't listened to episode 200, please go have a listen. It's a nice little reflection piece of all the steps getting to that point and sharing a little bit of a reflection and a big thank you for all those that have been listening, whether you've been here for one episode or all 200. So today, appreciate you being here.

Number one, and we have a topic which has been very close to my heart in the last, probably last couple of weeks, but it's something that has actually occurred during my entire, I guess probably since I was 16. There's been multiple times this has occurred and it was something I really wanted to tap into and discuss with you. It goes around the whole conversation around and look, this is a question for you and maybe it can help you vibe with what I've been feeling. But have you ever had the chance to do something big? It's going to get you out of your comfort zone. Maybe it can help you vibe with what I've been feeling, but have you ever had the chance to do something big? It's going to get you out of your comfort zone. Maybe it was a level up, Maybe it was something in business, maybe it was a new, maybe you're going to do your first 10K run, or maybe you wanted to ask someone out or maybe, whatever it may have been, you're applying for a new job or you're going to be moving, or you wanted to apply for an application for a grant or something. I don't know right, but the idea was it was going to level you up. It was going to mean taking a risk, like putting yourself out there, or maybe it was just as simple as chasing a dream, and maybe in those moments you've stopped yourself because it just felt like too scary.

Maybe everything added up and it seems like this is all great, but the thing that was stopping you was you were just scared. You weren't too sure. You were worried about the risks. You were worried about maybe what if it didn't work? You started to overanalyze, or you did analyze and you overthought things and you started to come up with excuses and come up with reasons of why you shouldn't do it, when really there was all the reasons to do it other than just you not being comfortable with it Today. That's what we're talking about Today. We're talking about how that fear is actually a sign of growth and why saying yes could change everything for you.

Now I will say that this is obviously not advice that you should go say yes to everything, but there is instances which you know and you can probably look back in hindsight now and think if I had just done that, then I would be in a different situation now. And usually it comes down to your intuition, it comes down to your gut and it comes down to your previous experience for you to be able to start feeling those vibes. For me, there has been multiple instances, whether it was taking this chance myself to step away from the nine to five and build this podcast and build a business. There's been moments within the business doing it when I got my first wholesale order, when I started to buy international, when I got my first storage unit, when I started to make a change in how I was going to be operating, when I hired someone all these different things. I felt exactly the same thing and they've all turned out great. There's been a lot of lessons along the way, but they've all turned out great.

So I want to discuss that today. We're going to roll the intro and, of course, if you do have any questions along the way, or if you would like to continue the conversation and share your story, chuck it down in the comments. We'd really appreciate you. If you are just listening again, really do appreciate it, and the best thing that you can do is share this with someone else. That would mean the absolute world to me. Otherwise, make sure you do subscribe comment to make sure you don't miss out on any more of these episodes. Let's roll the intro and let's get into it.

So I want to break down the whole experience of this, and I think the first thing is it's a bit of an analysis trap, right? So when we have options that are given to us, when we have opportunities that are provided to us, when we have opportunities that are provided to us, when we have circumstances that arrive and you have to look through them and analyze them, we can tend to really shoot ourselves in the foot because we start to think about oh, what if this happens? Or what if that happens? Or we start to think of all the reasons to say no, like the cost, the time, the skill gaps, what if it doesn't happen? And a lot of time this is just fear in disguise, like when I went from my storage unit. The first time it was $400. I now spend $2,000. And if I have a warehouse, it's probably going to be about $3,500. But at the time it was a big outlay. It was something different. It's something that I'd never done before and I was worried. What if it doesn't work? And it's if it doesn't work.

There's things that we can do to mitigate that. You go back to the way you were. You pivot, yeah, maybe you lost some money, but you're going to learn a lot along the way. And again, it's not about saying yes for the sake of saying yes. It's about saying yes when you know that this is going to make you grow and you're going to have to work harder and you're going to have to do the next thing. And if they all align to a very common topic that I talk about here on the channel not just on the podcast, but on all my content around if you know why you're doing something, if you know what you want, that it's going to require a lot of work and you know that it's what it's going to take of you to do and it makes you happy.

Then, when you have these moments where you are feeling a bit like, but you know that this is probably the best thing to get me closer to where I want to be, then this is probably the best thing to get me closer to where I want to be, then this is the right answer and the excuses that we can create it's just, it's really petty, but it's just because we're trying to be defensive and protect ourselves, which I get it, because it can be scary to do it. But a lot of the time, these common excuses such as I'm not ready, or what if I fail, or I don't have time, they feel valid, right, they feel valid, but more often than not they or I don't have time they feel valid. Right, they feel valid, but more often than not, they're actually just a safety net to avoid the discomfort. Reflect right now how many times have you gone through a discomfort experience in terms of maybe you got stepped up into a new role at work, or you had to, maybe even when you started driving, or you're taking on a new shift or you're meeting with a new stakeholder and maybe you're having to travel international for the first time via plane. That can be scary. It's turned out okay. There was probably some bumps and mistakes and lessons along the way, but you're still charging on. A lot of the time.

We do overthink these things, the whole role of fear. It's a natural response. We naturally respond in a way that when we go to step out of our comfort zones, it puts up alarm bells and says, well, what are you doing? But fear doesn't mean we should stop. It means that we're about to grow. It doesn't mean that we should say no. It means it's hey, do you want to grow? If yes, then let's do this. And it's going to be a ride along the way.

And I think I would be more concerned, reflecting on all the times that I have been scared, if I wasn't scared. I would probably be concerned. Like I know. It's probably not going to change me. It's just normal, it's just consistency, it's just routine. It's just consistency, it's just routine, it's just the stuff that you do on an everyday basis and that's the beauty of it. Once you do this, that becomes the norm, you get comfortable with it and you never have to do it and worry about it again. My light just turned off while I was here. That's really annoying. There we go and as you do more of it you get more comfortable with it and it just becomes just a rinse and repeat process, which is what you want, because then you'll find something else to grow into. That's the whole breaking down of the experience. But there is a positive side of fear and I've already alluded to it.

But we can use fear as a bit of a compass, right? Fear often points us into the direction what truly matters or what's truly worth pursuing, because it's usually something tied to something bigger and meaningful, and that's because we know it's something that we haven't done. Now, if you're living your life to your fullest, maybe not, because when there's something that comes along bigger and it scares you and it thinks, wow, this could happen, this could be possible but you start to think maybe not because you've never experienced it, you don't know how to fathom it, you don't know how to understand it, you don't know how to control it, because it's out of your league. Even though you think you've got it all figured out, there's always something bigger which is going to challenge you to be a bigger and better version of yourself, right? So it's a compass. If it's going to get you closer to where you want to go, you need to ask yourself does it align my values? Does it make me happy? Is it part of my plan? Is it part of what I want to achieve? Then it's probably dinging.

Yes, and growth comes with discomfort. As I've said probably three, four times now already, discomfort leads to this growth, and I remember when I've had to step out of my comfort zone at work, and that was because I was voluntold. Someone said you're going to be taking over this in someone's absence, and it was scary, but there was people there to help me. There was, and it was scary, but there was people there to help me. I could ask people for help. I just had to show up, be willing to learn, be willing to leverage the skills I already had and then apply it, and people don't give you those opportunities if they don't think you're ready for them. At the same time, we can create our own opportunities, which then, who are you going to lean on? But at the same time, when I started this podcast, I was unqualified. I didn't have a podcast. I was terrified and, as I've spoken about this numerous times, I got some help. Someone gave me some insight around. Just do it. What are you waiting around for? And then every episode has helped me learn and grow and get more comfortable and confident in doing this. And here we are, chatting 201 episodes in. So if you don't start, if you don't start to step into that, then you'll never grow.

I think the other thing you need to weigh up together is regret versus failure. Failure is temporary, because if you stop it will go forever, but if you continue to pivot, adjust and try again, then you will get past it. Right, it's regret that lasts longer because you might put something off. Today, 10 years later, you realize, oh my goodness, I should have done that. And then you will hold onto that you shouldn't, but we do so.

You know we can recover from mistakes. If you make a mistake, you can recover from it. There's ways around it. There's ways to get through it. You work through it, but you can't get back the opportunity that you did not take. You can't unless another opportunity comes along which is very rare that you've got to be willing to say okay, am I going to be happy now that I take this decision or am I going to be even more happy five years from now that I took this decision, even though it's going to be scary now? It's going to be hard now. It's going to be tough now. I'm probably going to be more beneficial in five years time, or two years time, or three months time, or whatever it may be.

So how do we actually navigate this decision? And again, you need to be comfortable with what you're doing. But I think the first thing you need to do is one acknowledge the fear. Understand that fear is there. Understand that that is the thing holding you back. You need to admit when that is driving your hesitation right. If that's the driving factor, you need to have a big hard. You need to ask yourself am I saying no because this is truly not right, versus is it because you're scared of the unknown? And you should be able to feel the difference between something that does not feel right versus something that just feels scary. You should be able to tell the difference of that.

As an individual, what you can do is you can visualize the worst case scenario. What is the worst case that happens? What is the worst case outcome if I do this? Understand what it is and if you understand it and you can think I think I can handle it then you're good to go. Mate, you'll fail. You might learn something. You try again. It's really not that bad Whereas you flip the script right and you turn it around to.

Let's reframe this into a different mindset around. Instead of asking what if I fail, let's reframe this into a different mindset around instead of asking what if I fail? What happens if I succeed? What does this enable for me? Pros and cons. What's it going to do for me? What does it give me? How is it going to change my life? What is it going to do? Is it going to be a better experience? A worse experience? A better outcome? A worse outcome? What are the things that's going to change instantly versus as we grow, as I grow, as I do more things, all these different things? Right, there's so many ways we can look at it, but usually we look at the negative.

The other thing we can do is we can take a small step, break the action into manageable steps. Now, sometimes this is not possible. If you're signing a lease for a new house or something, you can't do small steps, you have to jump in. But if saying yes feels too big to something that big, can we find a way to start smaller? Maybe you need to get a smaller house, something that you're more prepared and comfortable to pay for. Maybe it's only a $300,000 loan, not a $500,000 loan Again, not financial advice, just giving you some examples. So, look, this is short and sharp, but I wanted to keep it short and sharp because I wanted to really focus on just.

This is a conversation that I've been having myself with myself for a while now on some of the big changes I'm making in my life, and all of that. It might have already been revealed by the time of this episode, but I'm filming this in advance, filming this on the 26th of January, so by the time you're hearing, this is scheduled to come out on the 2nd of March, which means a lot has happened between then, and that's because the stuff I'm talking about today is the stuff I'm dealing with today, which means by the time you hear it, maybe things have changed, maybe they haven't, but maybe they have, and if they have, then you'll probably be hearing about in a couple of weeks. Anyway, I got some actions, or call to actions for you as a listener or as a watcher, whoever you are. One again, appreciate you. I want to empower you.

So the next time you feel the fear is creeping in, the next time you feel it coming upon you, don't see it as a stop sign. Ease into it and see if it's a signal for you that you're about to grow. And in that moment, what's one thing that sorry, not in that moment, but with that what's one thing you've been saying no to, at the moment that deserves a yes? So, after everything we've been talking about, have you been feeling fear creeping? Have you been feeling something? That's maybe just the only reason I'm saying no is because I'm just scared, and maybe there's a chance to say yes here.

I want you to also take a moment for a reflective question. What would you do if fear wasn't holding you back? What would be the thing? What would have you done? What are some of the regrets you have from not taking action because you were too scared? Right, and imagine what the difference is. Or think of a moment where you did actually do it, because you tapped into it and you realized, no, no, I can do this. And how good was it right? And then I've got one more practical challenge for you, which is I want to encourage you to take one small step toward a scary but exciting opportunity within the next week. And if you don't know how to do it, this is going to sound pretty petty, but it's a really great way to do it.

Next time you order a coffee speaking coffee, cheeky little coffee right here Next time you order a coffee, ask for a discount. What's the worst that can happen? They say no. What's the best that can happen? They give you 20 cents off, $2 off, I don't know. 10% off? Well, ask for 5% off. Ask for 10% off, ask for a discount. See what happens. And that will challenge you to get out of your comfort zone. And all of a sudden, you're going to get either a really good result or nothing changes. You're still paying your full five bucks. So that's my challenge to you. If you've got any questions, comments, you want to continue the conversation? Please jump down below.

If you enjoyed this, make sure you like, subscribe and share this with someone else. I wouldn't want you to miss out on the next episode that comes out, but also I would love for others to be able to experience this and for me, this whole podcast Further your Lifestyle is about my journey, furthering my own lifestyle, talk about business, talk about hustles and conversations around passions all these different things and we've gone really down to the narrow path of just the small, practical things of everyday life. But a lot of the time it's stuff that I'm experiencing as I'm building the lifestyle that I want and that's all I can share. I can't share you something that I do not know and I encourage you if this has been resonating with you, please let me know. Most of all, share it with someone else that you think needs to take action on this, because imagine if you could send this to someone and it helps them get their life in order.

I'm creating this content because I want to see other people aspire further in their own lives. Now, if other people don't know about this, they can't be influenced. It's not about me. That's just what I want to be able to give back to people, because while I'm learning, why can't other people learn too? And that's the intention to help others further their lifestyle. And it's a fun experience when you realize and have that self-awareness of how far you've come, what you've been able to achieve, gone from X to Y, comparing yourself to a previous version of yourself. You'll be amazed of what you can do and I wouldn't want you to miss out on that and I wouldn't want anyone else to miss out on that, so please give it a share. Anyone else to miss out on that? So please give it a share. Send it to someone today. If you do share this, let me know who you shared it with. Appreciate you being here. You have a wonderful day, cheers.