How to Step Outside Your Comfort Zone in 2018 — plus a 15-Minute Challenge from Mike Posner

We run our days on autopilot:

• The daily commute to work (same roads every day) 🚗
• Replying to a bunch of emails first thing in the morning 📥
• Cooking the same dinners and watching the same stuff on TV every night 🍽

#yawn 💤

I get why we do it — it’s hard to step outside of your daily routine and try new things.

But growth happens outside of your comfort zone.

For example, earlier this year I lost focus and felt frustrated in business and life. To get out of my funk, I FINALLY did  something which had  been on my mind for years…

I took a trip to Israel.

I LOVED it. I met cool new people, practiced my Hebrew, and ate tons of delicious food.

Israelis + their dogs

A post shared by Noah Kagan (@noahkagan) on Jun 12, 2017 at 5:13pm PDT

I learned 3 things from the trip:

1. I want to say “no” more often so I can focus on the MOST important things
2. I want to give my team at Sumo more autonomy
3. I want to meet more people

If I hadn’t have taken this trip, this year probably would have looked very different for me. And I bet this year wouldn’t have been as much fun.

Because I want to help challenge YOU to step outside your box, I wrote this post to help try new things in 2018 (and beyond).

To get in the right mindset before you read this post, here’s a 15-minute minute challenge from Mike Posner.

In this 15-minute reset, learn a new habit you can keep forever.

All relaxed and ready to learn how to step outside your box? Let’s go!

BONUS: Tips I learned from Mark Zuckerberg to make 2018 your best year ever

1. Schedule time for new things

One of the biggest blockers for new experiences is finding time.

We’re all busy, right? Tt can be hard to make time to try new stuff.

This was ALWAYS a huge problem for me.

For years, I wanted to:

• Hit the gym more 🏋️‍♂️
• Learn Hebrew 🕍
• Launch a podcast 🗣

But with growing Sumo, trying for a work-life balance, and everything else I had my priorities set.

Sound familiar?

You tell yourself you’re going to hit the gym today or get started on your business… then BOOM!

Slack messages start coming in, you have fires to put out at work, and next thing you know it’s bed time. 😴

To break the cycle, I plan everything I want to do in my calendar. Once something is added, I can’t skip it.

• In green I have my health tasks like hitting the gym and fasting
• Learning time is grey (like Hebrew lessons)
• Fun stuff / personal time is in pink

Most people only use calendars to plan meetings. But my calendar has become my go-to for planning EVERYTHING. Even my free time and activities with friends.

Sometimes I’ll even add an agenda to my personal meetings to make sure I’m using  the most of the time I’m spending with everyone.

For example, here’s an agenda for the time I spent hanging out with my friend Ian:

When you want to try something new, schedule time so you can’t skip it.

2. You don’t have to commit forever

When I flew to Vegas earlier this year to see my buddy Tynan, he reminded me of something very important.

Change doesn’t have to be permanent.

When you realize you can always adjust, it’s easier to begin testing our new things and finding what works for you.

The true failure is NOT trying. 💯

After my “rich asshole moment,” I recognized I had to change some behaviors. So I started testing things out before committing to them.

For example, when I wanted to buy a new condo, I asked if I could rent it before buying to see if I liked it. Turns out, I didn’t enjoy it… so I didn’t buy it. Could have been an expensive mistake!

This doesn’t just apply to big decisions in your life either.

Say you’re curious to try yoga. If you go to a class and it sucks, you don’t have to stay (just like when I walked out on Tony Robbins). And if you love it, go back. EASY.

If you try something new — hitting the gym, yoga, meditation, whatever — remember that it doesn’t have to permanent. And there’s no shame it dropping a new habit if you don’t enjoy it.

Have you tried the 15-minute meditation from Grammy-nominated artist Mike Posner yet?

3. Cut out the stuff you don’t like

Back in the summer, I had the chance to meet Jesse Itzler.

Jesse is a baller:

• Cofounded private jet company Marquis Jet, then sold it to Warren Buffett
• Helped pioneer Zico, which was acquired by Coca-Cola
• Co-owns the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and is married to Spanx founder Sara Blakely

#goals 💪

But one of my key takeaways from my time with Jesse was his laser-focus on “eliminating the fluff” from his life.

These are the non-essential tasks we spend time on, usually out of habit or because we think we should. For example:

• Joining every little meeting at work (aka the easiest way to waste 8 hours)
• Watching a whole movie when you realized it sucks after the first 5 minutes
• Checking your emails every 30 minutes

All of these things are huge time-sucks.

For example, if you can cut the meetings you attend by 50% it could lead to 15+ extra hours per month.

Suddenly:

• That podcast you wanted to start is achievable ✅
• The 20 minutes you wanted to spend meditating… yep, you got it ✅
• That time you needed to learn to code is available #nomoreexcuses ✅

There’s no rewind button in life. After a day has passed, it’s gone forever. Focus your time on things you WANT to do and cut out all the fluff.

Want to step out of your comfort zone right now?

Listen to this special episode of Noah Kagan Presents and experiment with a guided meditation lead by Mike Posner:

Ready to dominate 2018? Here are more tips to make 2018 your best year ever