Being stagnant in life was one of the things I feared the most. I knew it was because I was too scared to get out on my own and fail. And in some strange way, I was actually scared to succeed.

But I just knew there had to be more to life than just getting A's in school or just working to make money. There had to be more than what I was used to doing every day.

It was summer 2018 when all of these thoughts ran through my mind, and I finally decided to do something about it.

I sat down and attempted to get myself together.

Throughout the summer, I consistently set small goals for myself just to slowly move to more independence and become more confident in my abilities. I mapped out several different things I could improve on, including my studying habits, the people I chose to let in my life, and even just my overall abilities outside of maintaining a good GPA. It did me some good to actually write things down this time, instead of just saying over and over how bad I wanted my life to change.

Writing down the person I wanted to be kept me more accountable than any friend or foe ever could.

Although I still fade in and out of a comfort zone every now and then, I now know that I can do more than I think. That really made a difference in how I did everything moving forward.

I no longer hold my tongue on things that bother me just because it is easier to be seen than heard. I try new things just because of all the "why not?" reasons in my life. I am no longer scared of the success I am capable; I now seek the challenge and nothing less.

I would say I hope I never fall into my old comfort zone again, but that would be cliché. I will not go back into my comfort zone because there is still so much for me to do, so much to see, and so much life waiting to be lived.

Who I want to be doesn't exist in a comfort zone.