Mindset & wellbeing strategies for stepping out of your comfort zone: Part One
Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash
In conversation with Interior Designer turned Health Coach Kaye Preston
@mskayepreston | www.kayepreston.com
This conversation is part of a series of chats on camera confidence held live on Instagram. In speaking with experts in different fields, my hope is to share with you their unique insight & resources. To embolden you to connect to your audience on camera with authenticity & empathy.
To watch our conversation in full click here.
For many of us, speaking on camera is something that doesn’t feel comfortable. With the pandemic, as many of us continue to use technology to connect and present our ideas to others, Kaye shared her insight and holistic approach to camera confidence. To shift out of discomfort and into ease.
We spoke about the power of mindset when it comes to stepping out of your comfort zone, and how wellbeing & your space can support you to show up as your best self, ready to achieve your goal.
As we covered so much ground during our 40 minute conversation, I’ve decided to share it across two blog posts. You can find Part Two, focusing on Wellbeing Strategies here.
I kicked off the conversation by asking:
How do you think mindset & wellbeing support confidence on camera?
I feel like mindset is a bit of a buzzword at the moment, or people can feel like it’s a buzzword, but I’m here to say that it’s not. It’s so important, it is valid, it is a real thing, and it’s crucial to understand your own mindset.
Because it’s a set of beliefs that we have about what’s possible in our life. Which tells me, in order to move ahead with any goal that I want it actually starts with mindset. Whether that’s a wellbeing goal, feeling more confident, or wanting to present. Whatever it is that you want to achieve it actually starts with what you think about it. What is possible.
For a starting point, it’s really important as we dive into a couple strategies around mindset, is to have an awareness around where you’re starting from. That for me - awareness is key in every area of life - but specifically for our conversation today, it’s about being really clear and aware of where you’re starting from. So in this case, what is your mindset around presenting on camera? And stepping out of your comfort zone?
You need to get clear to start about what that looks like for you before you can tackle, achieve or attempt to do the thing that you want to do!
MINDSET STRATEGY #1: Awareness - 7 questions to help you get clear and dive in about what your beliefs could be:
What are your beliefs?
What are past stories you might be telling yourself?
What’s a thought pattern you have that might be on repeat?
What are your habits around this goal?
What is your perspective on this?
What’s your frame of reference?
What could be holding you back?
To dive in a bit deeper:
“What’s your frame of reference?” This is a really great one, because often if you can’t see it, it’s hard to believe that it’s possible in ourselves. In this case, if you want to start presenting, go out and watch people who do it. And that will give you the frame of reference to switch something in your mind that goes: “oh if that person can do it, now I can see myself doing it”. With the pandemic, there’s so many more people presenting virtually so you won’t be short on examples!
“What could be holding you back?” It could actually go back quite a ways, you tried a presentation when you were in school and you forgot your words. Or someone was talking in the back and it made you feel that what you were saying wasn’t important. All these things can trigger a response in us as adults where we might freeze up.
By figuring out where you’re at and what might be holding you back, you need to understand those things when you want to go to the next level.
MINDSET STRATEGY #2: Discover if you have a growth or fixed mindset
If you have a growth mindset, you might think:
I can learn anything I want
I like to try new things
I’m inspired by the success of others
Challenges help me grow
If you think these things, you have a growth mindset. Which is important to cultivate if you want to step out of your comfort zone. And want to try something new, like presenting.
If you have a fixed mindset, you might be thinking things like:
I’m either good at something or I’m not
You don’t like to be challenged
You might get frustrated if first time out of the gates, you’re not as good as you think you should be, so you give up
You stick to what you know
The great thing about mindset is that it’s not set in stone. (Even though the word ‘fixed’ suggests it is!) It’s not.
So starting with the first strategy, if you have the self-awareness where you think “Oh I do have a bit of fixed mindset” now you know. Brilliant! Now you can work on developing a growth mindset.
Pro Tip #1 to shift your mindset - Play a new tape for yourself
Catch yourself and go “Okay, this is stepping out of my comfort zone” but I want to grow. This is going to help me grow, and expand. I want to do that. And keep repeating those thoughts in your mind:
“Challenges help me grow.
I can learn anything I want”
Put it on post-its, whatever you need to do keep those new thoughts on repeat, do that!
Because it can take a little while to switch, have it on repeat, and also acknowledge when you have thought something new. Celebrate that you didn’t give up, or you did go for it... that’s an accomplishment. And acknowledge those. By acknowledging, you will also help reaffirm those positive growth mindset thought patterns.
Pro Tip #2 to shift your mindset - Connect to the body
It’s very natural and normal even for professional speakers, to still get nerves and nervous energy. That’s something that happens. From a thought point of view, what you can do is think of that nervous energy differently. Rather than being afraid of it or wanting to avoid it and not present in the first place because you don’t like that feeling, switch that up in your mind. Think: “Oh I’m excited”. Or “I’m feeling this way because this is really important to me and I want to do a good job. This is something I really care about.”
And by having different thoughts about the nervous energy - you’re probably going to feel it anyways! - that can help how we step out of our comfort zone. It’s changing your perspective about how you see something.
Top Tip from Heather: Try this to calm & embrace your nervous energy
Planting your feet & taking a few deep breaths is part of a pre-presentation routine I share with all my clients. And you can access it too! Click here to learn how to find calm & composure before any presenting situation.
Read Part Two here, with key Wellbeing Strategies to support you in stepping out of your comfort zone and showing up on camera as the best version of you.
And you can watch our full conversation here.
Many thanks to Kaye for sharing her insight on camera confidence.
Kaye Preston is an Interior Designer turned Health Coach working with clients to show them what their true potential can be when they prioritise their wellbeing, have energy, are aligned with their body and mind, and no longer feel stressed, overwhelmed and burned out.
Kaye’s goal is to simplify wellbeing and empower clients to create healthy lifestyles incorporating wellbeing moments throughout the day.
Through 1 to 1 coaching and online programmes, Kaye inspires clients to create strong mindsets, build healthy foundations and design supportive home environments to achieve their goals.
Find out more about Kaye here.
Want to feel more confident on camera? Check out Camera Confidence: Your Director’s Notes - a new way to work with me, your resident presentation skills coach, to empower you to show up on camera feeling like the best version of you.
