Comfort zone: should I stay or should I go?
Probably the most difficult decision I had to make in 2022 was to leave the company I had worked for the last 12 years of my life. Let’s rewind for a bit.
13 years ago, I graduated in 2010 from EDHEC Business school. Simultaneously, I started an internship at Christian Dior Couture as an assistant buyer. What was supposed to be a 6 -month internship turned into a 12-year life experience.
In 12 years, I had 9 roles, 8 managers, 2 CEOs, 3 women designers, 2 men designers. I moved from Paris to London, from merch to retail. I led teams from 17 to 70 people. I learned an endless list of skills. But most importantly, I met incredible people and a lot of my close friends. So to Dior, thanks for everything.
But at the end of 2021, I hit that strong feeling of frustration, signaling me a need for a big change. Problem was I had no clue on what to do next.
As I was lost, I sought help and started a self-exploration journey:
I enrolled in a yoga teacher training, which meant for me to commit to practicing yoga and meditation every day. Why did it help? I grew my positive mind, and lower the inner voice in my head, the language of fear and criticism
I got a coach. We identified my values: happiness, free spirit, openness, accomplishment. l learned to put happiness first and design my life around that.
Consequently, a question arose: what makes me happy? I listed what was important for me, what I wanted to be, to have, to experience.
It led me to the conclusion I needed to focus on myself. This is how my personal development journey started. I decided to take some time off work and I jumped into the unknown.
Here is what I did next:
I picked self-development books to explore key areas of my life I wanted to improve: love, and to some extent, emotions, and people connection. I did not need a lot. I chose 3. In all honesty, I was never a big fan of those books before. But now, I can tell how much they made the difference in being where I am now.
I learned to identify my limiting beliefs and upgrade them with empowering ones
I took actions out of my comfort zone to overcome my fears and grow a new me.
In personal growth, I found happiness.
What about you? If there was one thing you wish to do this year out of your comfort zone? what would it be?
