SOBCon Weekend: The Comfort Zone

If you had told me in December, when I had started this blog, that I would be traveling to other states, and going to seminars, in order to learn more and meet some great people, I would have thought you were nuts. It’s been nearly five months now since I made my first post, and I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty grateful for the experience that I have received.

It is now the beginning of SOBCon weekend, and I have just checked into my hotel room. Examined successful-blog, the site of our lovely hostess Liz Strauss, and am now preparing to get the best possible experience from this weekend. My intentions are to learn, so that I can give you guys some great info, to meet people and to have fun.

Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone

In my experience, the only way to really experience growth is to break out of your comfort zone. When I went to the Problogger meet in NYC, I didn’t really feel out of my comfort zone. After all, NYC is basically my home turf, and I brought a date with me to keep me company. Now I’m in Chicago, a place I’ve never been to before (I don’t even fly very often). I’m here alone.

I feel pretty comfortable doing this, but never the less it is a new experience. It is a big step for me. The only seminars that I thought I would be going to anytime in the near future would be personal development related (like the Landmark Forum). This whole blogging thing is opening up new doors and adventures for me. The best part for me is the people and the community. My readers make it all worth it. If just one person gets one thing out of what I’m doing here, it’s already worth it. Judging by the feedback that I have gotten over the months, you have made it worth it many times over!

I’ll have plenty of SOBCon updates coming up. So check back!

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Posted by in Blogging, Networking | May 11, 2007 | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumble | Print | 15 comments

  • http://essentialkeystrokes.com Char :: Essential Keystrokes

    Alex – have a great time and tell everyone I said hello! I can’t wait to see all the pictures.

  • http://blog.azazil.net Gaz

    Chicago is a fantastic city, and I’m sure you’ll have a great time there. I can’t wait to get back there myself.

    You might also enjoy my post about moving Outside the Comfort Zone.

  • http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    Lol thank you Char! That reminds me to bring my digi camera down stairs with me this time. I didn’t have it all last night – but don’t worry many many pictures were taken. It was really funny because someone was taking pictures and putting them RIGHT UP onto the huge screen in the room. So you’re still sitting in the same spot, but there are pics of you for everyone to see (pretty cool I think).

    Gaz,

    Thank you for sharing this article, I’ve commented on your site.

  • Anna

    One of my favorite quotes is “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten. ” Change only occurs when we break out of our comfort zones. Hope you’re having an awesome time in Chicago. talk to you soon.

  • http://smartwealthyrich.com/ Jonathan-C. Phillips

    Hey Alex, was awesome meeting you at SOBCon07 this week-end bro! Hope saturday night in town was cool man! :)

  • http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    Hey Anna, I like that quote a lot too. I’ll talk to you soon.

    Jonathan, it was a pleasure meeting you. We’ll talk soon, I’ll tell you about downtown (you missed out big time! hehe)

  • http://ideaseller.typepad.com Daniel Sitter

    We are kindred spirits Alex. I had a conversation with a dear friend this past weekend that sounded a great deal like this post!

    I referenced that in the several months since I started blogging, I have met a number of wonderful, talented people from whom I have learned a great deal. I too am passionate about learning and personal development.

    Breaking out of our comfort zone is critical for growth. It’s a mental thing. It’s about facing your fears and doubts. It’s about taking consistent action towards bold new goals, previously unthinkable. It’s a new paradigm. It’s about living to the max.

  • http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    Hey Daniel,

    I’m glad you get the whole comfort zone thing. Thank you for commenting.

    The only limitations that we have are the ones set forth by our mind. Right?

  • http://dmiracle.com/conversation/sobcon07sharing-our-best-conference-2007/ SOBCon07…Sharing Our Best Conference 2007 – Dawud Miracle @ dmiracle.com – (formerly Healthy WebDesign)

    [...] So many other people I met. I found out the spelling of Troy Worman’s name was misspelled a few hundred years ago and has stuck ever since. It was great hearing Director Tom talk video with Ben Yoskovitz. Spending time with Jesse Peterson, Mark Goodyear, Alex Shalman and Lisa Gates was a blast. As was my running comment joke with Jonathan-C Phillips – which continues. [...]

  • http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog Steven Aitchison

    I wish they had more events like this in the UK. Great that you broke free from your comfort zone Alex, Kudos to you

  • http://www.alexshalman.com Alex Shalman

    Thanks Steven. Maybe you’ll be able to fly out for a trip to the states one of these days!

  • http://www.alexshalman.com/blog/2007/06/06/sobcon-pictures-and-links/ SOBCon: Pictures and Links | Alex Shalman . com

    [...] Sobcon Weekend: The Comfort Zone [...]

  • http://google.com/ Sydney Hake

    This one makes sence “One’s first step in wisdom is to kuesstion everything – and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.”

  • http://100bloggers.com/2007/06/28/take-your-comfort-zone-to-the-moon/ 100 Bloggers » Blog Archive » Take Your Comfort Zone to the Moon

    [...] Alex Shalman wrote ” In my experience the only way to experience growth is to break out of your comfort [...]

  • http://feeds.feedburner.com/~e?ffid=676317 Tyler Smuck

    One’s first step in wisdom is to kuesteon everything – and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.