Comfort Zones Have Nothing On Me! My Latest Life Push.
Kristyn Meyer is on a journey to make herself the best human that she can be. These posts are a reflection of that. She welcomes your support via reading and through commissioned affiliate links within her posts! To stay up to date on all of her shenanigans, please subscribe to her email list! (psst…there’s a free gift involved)
So, I did a thing.
After putting out my worksheet a few weeks ago, I couldn’t help but think about the things that I kept pushing off but did want to do. There are a few different things, one being moving abroad for a year. But also others that are more simple. Just overwhelming. And intimidating.
One of those things was tackling a home project on my own.
That doesn’t sound too bad, right? A home project could vary in size and time. Maybe it’s hanging some shelves, or painting a room. It doesn’t have to be too drastic.
But I wanted to take charge and do something that would be awesome in the way it turned out. I wanted to do more than just hang shelves, I’d done that before. I wanted to make a substantial change somewhere in the house. Something that was far outside all of my DIY comfort zones.
“As you move outside of your comfort zone, what was once the unknown and frightening becomes your new normal.”
Robin S. Sharma
There were a few things I had tried to take on in the past. One was my daughter’s bedroom when we moved into our house. That was extremely short-lived when I couldn’t figure out how to put her bed together and got frustrated within minutes. The second was when I had the idea to create a little store and playhouse in the basement for my kids. I designed the whole thing, but I wanted it done quicker than what I was capable of doing, so I passed the job on to my husband.
However, after posting that worksheet and getting involved following the work of The Home Edit, I found myself getting more and more motivated to make it happen.
I decided that I wanted to start with my laundry room. Since we purchased the house, the only change we made there was to put the washer and dryer next to each other instead of stacked vertically. And then my husband created a top to go over them both. It felt like the perfect place to test out my comfort zones.
“The comfort zone is nothing else but a graveyard for your dreams & ideas.”
Anonymous
I wanted a different color on the walls. And I wanted to repaint the wainscoting. Part of me wanted to change up the color of the two exterior doors. Lastly, I wanted to add shelves, storage, and find a different way to organize our shoes.
The timing lined up perfectly with a hiking weekend my husband had planned with some friends. He would be gone for three days, so it gave me a good amount of time to conquer this feat.
Speaking of which, my husband was a bit apprehensive. He reminded me that it may take more time than I was planning due to the large size of the project. Additionally, two of the spots where I planned to hang shelves had water lines and gas lines. So that was a bit worrisome as well. For both of us!
“You can choose courage or you can choose comfort. You cannot have both.”
Brene Brown
But I pushed forward. And I went outside of all the comfort zones I had placed myself in.
“The hardest thing to do is leaving your comfort zone. But you have to let go of the life you’re familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about.”
T. Arigo
To begin, I took measurements of the different areas, which was new to me. I know it doesn’t sound like it should be such a big thing. However, I previously would have just eyeballed it. Then guessed, bought the wrong thing, and gotten frustrated. I wanted to avoid all opportunities of giving up. So I measured all the relevant areas, including the depth of the different items I wanted to store on shelves. For sure I could see myself buying shelves that my items wouldn’t even fit on!
I then analyzed the room and the different things I wanted to accomplish. I knew where I wanted certain things and needed to make sure I had the tools to make that work and the knowledge to do so. Pushing outside of my comfort zones didn’t mean that I already possessed the necessary knowledge. Oh, no.
Google and Youtube are my friends for life.
“By leaving your comfort zone behind and taking a leap of faith into something new, you find out who you are truly capable of becoming.”
Anonymous
Through those resources, I was able to find the steps to prep and paint the interior sides of my exterior doors. Then I found out how to identify where gas lines are (stud finders help with this, but pro tip: if you buy one, make sure you have batteries for it).
There were some trial and error moments when painting. I started just using the edger to also paint the wall. It looked horrible. So I switched to a roller, which worked much better. However, that same type of roller made a weird imprint on the wainscoting. So I had to switch it out for a different type for that. To reach the higher up areas, I got the step ladder out of the garage. There were still some areas that I couldn’t quite get to though, so I searched the house until I found the handle of an old mop that I could attach the roller to. With that, I was able to get to the hard to reach areas.
“We have to be honest about what we want and take risks rather than lie to ourselves and make excuses to stay in our comfort zone.”
Ray Bennett
And then there was moving the washer and dryer. They were quite heavy. Of course, they are giant appliances. After a lot of shoving and wiggling, I got them moved just enough to be able to squeeze in and paint behind.
With all the walls painted, I moved on to the doors. It’s not so easy to paint doors when you have a giant dog and children running through constantly. So the kids got shipped off to their grandparents. The dog just got yelled at when he tried to come into the room.
Then there was the clean-up. I had bought plastic to put on the floors, but I was constantly feeling like I was going to wipe out every time I walked across them. So I ditched them.
Lesson learned: next time just put shoes on. Do not go without plastic.
“The only thing that is stopping you from where you are to where you want to go is your comfort zone.”
Dhaval Gaudier
It is such a headache to remove. But again I turn to Father Google. Vinegar helps a lot (we have slate tile in that room so it was okay to use). I also learned that if I put hot water on the different spots and then gently used a sanding block in a circular motion, it came up pretty easily.
Side note, I also bought sanding blocks.
In different grits.
I can honestly say I had no clue that different grits were a thing, or even that they came in something called grit. But I needed two different kinds for the doors, so I had to learn quickly.
“True self-discovery begins where your comfort zone ends.”
Adam Braun
With the cleaning complete, I turn to the shelves. I start loading everything back into the room. The first set of shelves went up without issue, except for the fact that the plastic anchors were annoying, so I ditched them.
Then the coat rack went up. Outside of it being a bit crooked, all was well.
Then the floating shelves. Lord almighty. The floating shelves.
I will never buy them again. They are the worst things to install. And of course, I was trying to put them on the wall with the gas lines. I tried to:
- Install the first one
- Then I decide I need to try it again
- I scratch up my freshly painted wall
- Install another one in a different area
- Decide I am happy with how that one looks
- Hang up a small picture in the area that I scratched with the other shelf
- Start on the first shelf again
- Can not get it in a place where I can actually utilize it as a shelf.
Picture a downward slanted shelf. Not helpful.
- Finally, make an executive decision to enforce the shelf with longer screws underneath.
- That works.
- Repaint the areas that are scratched.
- Only get a tiny bit of paint on the picture. Yes, the brand new one I just put up.
- Put items on the shelf that I first successfully installed.
- Items fall off and the shelf falls out of the wall.
- I re-install the shelf.
- I add the extra-long screws to this shelf as well for extra enforcement.
- The second test is successful, the shelf stays put and items don’t fall.
- Decide against putting up the third shelf.
After it, all was said and done – and a few expletives inserted – I was able to step back and look at what I did.
And I felt such a sense of pride. This project was done 100% on my own.
I had not given up.
I went so far out of all of my comfort zones.
Frustration came and went, I didn’t let it stop me.
I accomplished everything that I had set out to do (minus one shelf).
And it looked DAMN GOOD!
“Coming out of your comfort zone is tough in the beginning, chaotic in the middle, and awesome in the end…because in the end, it shows you a whole new world.”
Manoj Arora
Now I know that I can push myself into new situations like this. I don’t need to shy away from or have someone else complete it. No, I am fully capable of researching and learning and executing a big project like this.
When my husband finally saw the finished project, he said he was very impressed with what I did! I didn’t need his approval to make me feel proud of what I accomplished, but it was the icing on the cake!
Ultimately, I’m just happy with myself. That I set my mind to something and conquered it. I feel stronger, braver, happier, prouder, confident, awesome, and so much more. Doing this was such an emotional boost for me in a lot of different realms.
What about you? What goal of yours do you have that scares you a little bit?
“Each time you try something for the first time you will grow-a little piece of the fear of the unknown is removed and replaced with a sense of empowerment.”
Annette White
Did you get your free workbook/coloring book yet? What do you mean NO?! Enter your email below for your free download!
The new book! Check it out on Amazon!
