Doing a Proposal for Doing a Proposal System is Out of My Comfort Zone

But “Comfort Zone” is Just an Excuse to Not Fulfill My Purpose

There have been a few times when I stepped outside my comfort zone and the results were not what I’d hoped for. On the other hand, there have been times when I stepped out and the results were better than expected.

So, if this is the case why is it that I push back at taking chances? The comfort zone is called that precisely because that’s what it is…comfort-able.

The problem is we won’t ever achieve our purpose in life if we stay comfortable.

Living the life God wants us to live requires getting uncomfortable once and while.

There are a lot of boundaries we put up to keep ourselves from going out into the big scary world of the unknown. It’s not that these walls are bad things. They may even be good things.

I know that, in an effort to be sure that I’m prepared before I go out there, I’ve done things like trainings, classes, courses, etc. You know, to be sure that I know what I’m doing. Ray Edwards refers to this as “educrastination”. These are not bad things; we just need to be careful to not let them trap us in our comfort zone.

There’re also tool barricades. I tell myself that this new tool, gadget, program, system or process, will make me better prepared to confront the big scary unknown outside of this place of comfort.

Here’s what I do know. If I don’t go out there and do that thing that I’m scared of, I’ll never accomplish the thing that God wants me to.

Okay, okay, I’ll do it.

I’ll start working on a proposal for making a proposal system for VB Homes.

Last week I wrote that I was rethinking how my proposal system could be more helpful to contractors. I know of a couple of local contractors who got my proposal system and then didn’t use it. Why not…

I developed a system that works so well at efficiently preparing consistently accurate proposals.

Why wouldn’t every contractor want to use it?

Back to last week’s post.

After being connected with Chris Ettel of VB Homes by a mutual friend. Chris and I met a few times discussing my proposal system and I began to see that there might be some things in my system that could be changed to work better in their business.

I realized…not every contractor is the same.

At our last meeting we discussed the possibility of me designing and developing a modified version of my system that would work for them and their specific needs. He was very receptive to this idea…

Now comes the big scary, outside of my comfort zone thing.

Just like when I started doing construction, I didn’t know how to do proposals, this is the same thing. I made it through that scary thing I can make it through this one.

Here I go stepping out of my comfort zone.

I’ll let you know how that goes.

Building A House Can Be Scary, But It Doesn’t Have to Be

Get Excited About Building Your Dream and Enjoy the Thrill

With Halloween season there is a lot of ‘scare in the air’. This includes haunted houses, spook walks, movies, TV shows and a whole assortment of scary costumes. People deal with being scared differently. Some love it while others hate it.


Most Halloween scares aren’t real. The same thing is true when it comes to building a new house, a remodeling project or even simple repairs. The unknown associated with something big like a building project can be scary. Or maybe you’ve had a bad building project experience and are afraid to do another project for fear it will happen again.

Too often customer’s expectations aren’t met. I believe there are a couple of reasons for this. First is the builder’s lack of guiding the customer and clearly communicating the process. Second is the customers lack of knowledge and/or experience with the complicated building process. Both things can be remedied with improved communication and information.

 


There is an adrenaline rush that comes with being scared. According to Merriam-Webster, there are “…physiological symptoms (such as increased heart rate and respiration) that occur as part of the body’s fight-or-flight response to stress, as when someone is in a dangerous, frightening, or highly competitive situation, as well as the feelings of heightened energy, excitement, strength, and alertness associated with those symptoms.”

Look at some of the words used in this definition; heightened energy, excitement, strength, and alertness. Being scared sounds like a pretty good thing.

According to this article on WebMD, thrill seekers thrive on the scary. There is something that as humans we naturally seek from getting scared. There’s something rewarding when we go through the process and come out on the other side braver and stronger than when we started.

When researching thrill seeking the internet redirected my search to the word adventure. I think viewing a building project as an adventure is great way to look at it. Adventures can be scary but take us to exciting new places.


Whatever scary situation you find yourself in, you have the internal ability to use that scare in your own productive “fight or flight” way. Lissa Rankin, MD tells how fear makes you sick, but it doesn’t have to. The mind is a powerful tool. It is up to us to decide if we are going to work through the situation or run from it.

 

Happy Halloween