{"id":12359,"date":"2014-09-30T04:35:58","date_gmt":"2014-09-30T04:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/challengedetroit.org\/blog\/jenniferehrhardt\/?p=6"},"modified":"2014-09-30T04:35:58","modified_gmt":"2014-09-30T04:35:58","slug":"stepping-outside-your-comfort-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/stepping-outside-your-comfort-zone\/","title":{"rendered":"Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"

On our very first day of Challenge Detroit, the Year 3 Fellows participated in a team building exercise at Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center<\/a>.\u00a0 I will admit, team building is something I normally dread.\u00a0 Although I was trying to stay positive (since it was my very first day), I was extremely uncomfortable wearing a hardhat and harness surrounded by 34 strangers.\u00a0 Then our instructor demonstrated something that really struck a chord.\u00a0 He drew an imaginary circle around himself which represented his comfort zone.\u00a0 Then he took one step outside the circle to signify stepping outside his comfort zone.\u00a0 He told us about the importance of leaving your comfort zone so that you can grow and learn.\u00a0 He did not leap because going too far too quickly can be overwhelming, causing you to retreat to your comfort zone and less likely to leave again.\u00a0 But a small step is manageable, and as you get used to being out there, your comfort zone increases.\u00a0 He asked us to constantly think about this throughout the day.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Partners<\/a>That day we were constantly challenged.\u00a0 High in the treetops, we climbed across gnarly ropes, swinging logs, and narrow wires.\u00a0 We jumped off a wooden ledge 40 feet into the air and had to trust that our harness would hold.\u00a0 In teams of two, we attempted to ascend the formidable \u201cGiant\u2019s Ladder.\u201d\u00a0 With the comfort zone mantra going through my head, I continued to push myself further than I would have thought possible just a couple of hours ago.\u00a0 But the most inspiring part was how this group of strangers came together as a single unit to help everyone expand their comfort zones.\u00a0 While on the Giant\u2019s Ladder, I was ready to call it quits but my partner encouraged me to continue up one more rung.\u00a0 She would not let me give-up on myself, despite all my doubts, and even went so far as to literally hoist me up to the next level.\u00a0 And just like that, these 34 individuals weren\u2019t strangers anymore.<\/p>\n

\"Year<\/a><\/p>\n

As our first month comes to an end, we have a better understanding of the many challenges we\u2019ll face this year.\u00a0 Each challenge is a chance to step outside our comfort zones and grow.\u00a0 I\u2019m thankful to know that I have a supportive team to help me along the way.<\/p>\n

I hope that you will continue to follow my blog over the next year.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking forward to sharing what\u2019s going on with Detroit, my host company (Hospice of Michigan<\/a>), and my fellow Fellows<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On our very first day of Challenge Detroit, the Year 3 Fellows participated in a team building exercise at Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center.\u00a0 I will admit, team building is something I normally dread.\u00a0 Although I was trying to stay positive (since it was my very first day), I was extremely uncomfortable wearing a hardhat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12359","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12359","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12359"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12359\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12359"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12359"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/challengedetroit.builtrare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12359"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}