I made up my mind about a lot of things at the ripe old age range of 10-16 yrs old. Then I spent the next 14 yrs on autopilot.
I just calculated that and it shook me. 14 yrs! Dang!
How did I get to autopilot?
I did general science in 3rd form so I continued to do science subjects because I knew them. I didn’t do business subjects because I didn’t know them. I only did what I knew. I ditched the Arts. I convinced myself I wasn't creative ( I read a ton. I sunk into the worlds the book created. So how did I tell myself I had zero ounce of creativity?)
I also grew up in a very ‘churchy’ and in a relatively restrictive nuclear household. What it meant for this shy girl( who high-key had latent low self esteem) is that I stayed in a predefined box.
And I wasn't content to just be in a box, I had to build a concrete wall along the perimeter of this box.
So you can see I refused to step one inch out of my comfort zone. Bad things happen outside my fortified castle.
I always did what I knew, what was comfortable and what I deemed as my limit.
And that's how I got to autopilot and stayed there for a long time.
Never limit yourself
That is now my one true regret...staying in my comfort zone in every facet of my life. But I never live in regret, so it’s time to step out.
This is what I would say to you:- Never limit yourself, the world will do enough of that. You will realise that you are capable of more than you think. I have a few rules for myself. A couple of them are: -be patient with yourself and give yourself grace.
Tell me
Do you put yourself in a box in any area of your life? Tell me about it. Or have you done so in the past? How did you remove the borders/ limits? I would like to hear about it.