I used to be so confident and never even break a sweat doing something outside my normal routine, or trying a new opportunity. However, as I’ve gotten older, I have found it is increasingly more difficult to put myself out there into less comfortable and unfamiliar ground than it once was.

I didn’t quite realize how difficult or self-conscious I was about putting myself out there to try something new until very recently.

I felt completely out of my element… and that scared me. But the weird thing is, I was not just a scared of the out of element situation. I was scared that I had allowed myself to get to the point where I was this nervous to try put myself out there and try something new.

All I could think was wow, as this new experience brought to the surface feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and nerves. Lots of nerves.

I had no reason to feel insecure. I was just as qualified as the person next to me. I could look at my resume and my goals and realize I belonged here just as much as the next person. But for some reason that did not settle my nerves one bit.

Where did I go wrong to get to this point where I felt like I wasn’t good enough to take on a new challenge? Why did I let myself get there? How do I get myself out of this feeling?

That’s when I realized that the only way to overcome this nauseous feeling I had in my stomach was to own it and keep pushing myself through it. That’s the only way to get comfortable getting out of my comfort zone again. That’s the only way you can get back to feeling comfortable taking on challenges. By just doing it.

It was scary. I was nervous -- so nervous. But I kept pushing through my insecurity, and fear and giving it all I had. And you know what? I did it. I felt comfortable at the end of the week. I made it through the process and realized this opportunity to try something new that would challenge me was exactly what I needed, and at the perfect time in my college career.

Because this is what life is always going to be about. Putting yourself out there. Challenging yourself. Pushing yourself to go for something. We need to. So don’t let yourself get to the point where you are just comfortable and stagnant all the time with your routine. Find something or an opportunity to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, because I promise you -- you will take so much away from it.