6 subtle things to give you instant confidence to step outside your comfort zone

Stop waiting to feel ready. These small mindset shifts and daily actions will help you move forward - even in uncertainty.

Ever feel like stepping outside your comfort zone is like leaping into the unknown without a parachute?

That fear of uncertainty? You’re not alone. We’ve all been there. The feeling isn’t rare.

The biggest difference is you either keep going through it or cosy up in the corner of your comfort zone not to be disturbed, although your soul is urging you to feel whole.

I am here to remind you that you deserve it. To step out. Reach above and beyond. Real growth starts with the smallest possible steps.

So no, you don’t need a full-blown transformation to move forward. You need a few key shifts — subtle changes that quietly build momentum and trust in yourself, one small move at a time.

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Collab Well-Being Wednesday: Reconnect to Rise

Stepping OUT of your comfort zone deep dive

These reflections and tools are part of a paid offering because they provide real, lasting change for you to finally step out into your power.

Today, we explore the key steps it takes to step out of your comfort zone through trial, error, and experience.

By the end of this piece, you’ll:

• Know how to step out of your comfort zone with trust and confidence

• Learn how to remove pressure and find guidance from within

• Be more engaged with your purpose

And if you’re new here—hi, I’m Grace.

I’m a multidisciplinary, heart-led mentor who’s walked the path I guide others on.

I’ve broken down, rebuilt, and learned what school never taught us:

How to feel, regulate, and live an emotionally aligned life.

From leading yoga and group coaching sessions for the past seven years to teaching kindergartners, I’ve seen how our inner child still shapes our adult selves—and how reconnecting with them brings more joy, peace, and wholeness.

I don’t try to “fix” you—I remind you that you’re already whole.

Here’s a bit about me and how we can work together.

I am opening only three 1:1 spaces for those ready for real lasting change this month with a Mindful Mentorship. Alternatively, join our community of fellow deep feelers growing, learning, and relearning together in Healing Hearts Hub.

Let’s reconnect. You’re not alone.

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Today’s spotlight is on

Camilo Zambrano

Camilo writes at Self Disciplined, where he explores how to return to your path with clarity and intention, not force.

I’ve lived with anxiety for most of my life.

And more often than not, the root of it has been uncertainty.

My brain tends to treat ambiguity like it’s a threat, and not in a subtle way.

I used to think I was just being overly sensitive, but it turns out uncertainty lights up the same parts of the brain as physical pain. No wonder it throws us off.

These days, when that knot in my chest starts tightening, I don’t try to solve everything. I look for one small, mostly harmless step I can take.

It doesn’t always feel heroic, but it usually helps me move.

Trust what you know

1. Remove the need for certainty → Add the habit of small, safe action

Your brain treats uncertainty like a threat.

Something else that’s tripped me up is the spiral of overthinking what I don't know, especially when I started investing.

Back then, I thought I had to understand everything before I was allowed to do anything.

But I started making progress the moment I focused on what I did know, even if it wasn’t much.

That little foothold gave me enough momentum to take action. And funny enough, our brains like that. Acting on familiar ground triggers reward responses that make it easier to keep going.

Use what you’ve got, and the rest unfolds.

The bigger shift for me, though, came from letting go of the idea that failure says something about who I am.

Forgive your failures

2. Remove overthinking → Add trust in what you already know

You don’t need to know everything to start.

For a long time, when something didn’t go well, I took it personally, like I’d just confirmed every self-doubt I had. That started changing in college. I didn’t have the language for it yet, but I was slowly learning what’s now called a growth mindset.

I was surrounded by wildly smart people.

I needed a way to be okay with where I was. So I stopped obsessing over what I should already know and started focusing on what I could learn next.

It wasn’t a tidy transformation, more of a slow internal pivot that kept me afloat.

Looking back, it shaped more of my life than I realised. And research backs this up. People with a growth mindset respond more actively to their own mistakes.

Not because they enjoy failing, but because their brain treats it as something to work with instead of something to fear.

And when it comes to building confidence, one of the best tools I’ve found is just…

Saying things out loud.

Telling someone, “Hey, I’m working on this,” has a strange kind of power.

There’s this mental bias where we’re more likely to follow through on something once we’ve named it publicly.

Maybe it’s pride. Maybe it’s mild panic. Either way, it works.

The small things matter

3. Remove shame around failure → Add forgiveness and a growth mindset

Failure isn’t proof you’re not enough — it’s feedback.

I also rely on small wins. Not impressive ones, just the little things that remind me I can keep moving. Responding to one message I’ve been avoiding. Showing up for five minutes of a task I’ve been dragging out. That’s often enough to shift the whole day.

There’s real science behind that, too. Those tiny completions give us a hit of momentum, and suddenly, we’re not stuck. We’re just getting started.

And then there’s reframing. Not in the “just think positive” kind of way, that never worked for me.

More like quietly renegotiating what the moment means. When I feel like something’s too much, I don’t try to trick myself into believing it’s easy.

I ask, “What part of this can I handle today?”

That one question softens the pressure, even if nothing else changes. It gives me just enough breathing room to take the next step.

Why am I here to help

That’s the same mindset that led me to start Self-Disciplined, my newsletter. It was one of those moments where I could have easily talked myself out of it. I didn’t know how to present ideas or how to make them engaging without losing my voice.

But I was tired of waiting until I felt ready. So I hit publish.

That first post? I was scared. Not because I thought I’d be judged, but because I was putting a part of my story out into the world. Something raw, still in progress.

And that meant validating it. But after a moment of panic, I realised the worst thing that could happen was no one reading it.

And honestly, that wouldn’t take away the value of the process. Just writing, just sharing, gave me a strange kind of peace. Like I wasn’t waiting for permission anymore.

Since then, over 300 readers have joined me on that journey. Every time I share something, I’m reminded that stepping outside your comfort zone doesn’t have to be dramatic or loud.

It just has to be honest. That’s usually enough.

I’ve spent the last decade making “stepping out of my comfort zone” not just a habit, but a way of life.

A kind of devotion.

I chase adventure. I follow my heart.

I learn every time from the thrill or the lows.

Now I appreciate all the flows.

Here I go again: in three months, I will be at the end of my contract in this flat and finished with my 3-year studies here in Germany to become a kindergarten teacher.

I am ready to move on from this place. I originally moved in with my ex, but now I have made it my place as I regain space to realign myself with my dreams again.

I am excited about my future. No force, just flow.

People either express their concerns to me or amazement at me and the way I can live, but I know it comes from a place of care, such as worry. I listen but don’t take it on.

The other people marvel at me and how I can dream and make those dreams come true one step at a time… I have lived in the UK, Spain, and Germany, and now… let’s see.

Those people who marvel and say, “Wow, I wish I could do what you do”, are the ones stuck in their comfort zone.

But not you, not anymore.

I have moved where my heart has taken me, and I now see it is a gift from God.

My affirmation, written back for my first short eBook during coronavirus, takes me everywhere I go:

I am unshakeable because I remind myself always when anxiety or fear comes to whisper in my ears:

“I have done this before, so why wouldn't I be able to do it again?”

That, my sunshine seekers, is the key to stepping boldly out of your comfort zone time and time again: remember you have the power.

Stop comparing

4. Remove comparison → Add radical self-awareness

Comparison is the thief of joy — and your energy.

This nearly killed me off. Literally. When swamped down by depression and my mental breakdown, I can verify the quote:

As I lived it. Rather, tried to live through it, but couldn't survive it. The heaviness that comes from comparing yourself to others is too much for you to carry, love.

Look at you: your flaws, your quirks, your laugh… You are unique.

Once you tap into this superpower, nothing can hold you back from stepping out of your comfort zone.

You have a story to share. Tap into becoming more present and aware.

Listen

4. Remove distractions→Be disciplined in listening to your inner voice

Scriptures like philosophers have repeatedly said that we listen when centred in silence.

I bring back my balance daily in finding the glimmers all around me: I am aware of my surroundings, and I take care.

It wasn’t always like this, as I used to give my energy freely.

As an empath, that nearly killed me.

Your energy is sacred.

You need time to top up your battery, even if you are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Well, more the necessity to attune to your inner voice, your higher intelligence, God, intuition…

Whatever you wanna call it, you can call it when you learn to listen.

Dont let fear get in the way, but learn to be still with yourself, right here, right now. And listen.

As Camilo said, trust yourself and what you know. What you don’t know: Well, it will come to you. As you, my friend, know all within you.

Live, laugh, love, lose, repeat. Always.

5. Remove the pressure to make it big → Add small wins that count

Try it out. Learn from it and keep growing and glowing!

You are going to learn or let yourself live within limits.

It is that simple. The moment you notice how whatever occurs to you in life is a lesson, you tap into your higher power.

How do you think so many people are successful? They learn to live through all the layers that come with getting to where they are worthy to be.

The more you push yourself out of your comfort zone, the more confident and calm you become.

You are limitless.

Dedicate to your growth, and you live that life you push down because you think “ooh that's not me” out of the place in your heart that convinces you that you aren't worthy.

Stepping out of your comfort zone doesn't have to be loud or dramatic. It just has to be honest.

I've learned this through anxiety, breakups, breakdowns, and breakthroughs.

Every version of me that’s dared to take the next step — whether it was hitting "publish", scared or listening to my intuition — taught me something valuable:

“I’ve done this before. Why wouldn’t I be able to do it again?”

That’s what makes you unshakable. You just need to remember your power.

Now it’s your turn.

What’s one small step you can take today — even if it feels insignificant?

Say it out loud. Write it down. Share it.

And if this message resonated with you, I’d love to have you join me over in Healing Hearts Hub, where we grow one step at a time, daily, towards our dreams, together.

When you subscribe, you start stepping boldly, your way.

With love and light,

Grace and Camilo