These two circles say it all.
These two circles apply to so much that I have done in my life.
The farther I stray from my comfort zone, the better my life gets.
This is also exactly how my wife, Elysha, became the consummate and beloved host of Speak Up — our storytelling show.
When we first launched Speak Up back in 2013, she decided she didn’t want to operate in the background of our new organization. Rather than supporting me as she had done in my writing and performing career, she wanted to at least be standing alongside me, if not in front of me.
She wanted an integral, public role in Speak Up, so she knew she would have to host our show.
But she didn’t want to be the show’s host. She didn’t want to speak to large groups of strangers. She was afraid to speak to large groups of strangers. She physically shook when speaking to large groups of strangers. She had nightmares about speaking to large groups of strangers. She didn’t think she would be very good at hosting our show.
All of those things made hosting our show feel like it was miles outside her comfort zone.
Then she decided to host our show.
She decided to do the incredibly difficult thing. She decided to accept fear, possible failure, and even the potential for public spectacle.
It’s no exaggeration to say that today, she is, in many ways, the face and the heart of what we do.
I tell a story at every one of our shows, and yet people see me in public and have said, “Hey, you’re married to the Speak Up woman.”
Yes, I am. You have clearly forgotten about me and my story, but you remember her, and I don’t blame you one bit.
Today, Elysha is an outstanding emcee and host — so much so that people have hired her to consult on projects that require emcees.
The world gets bigger, better, brighter, and more interesting when we choose to step outside our comfort zone and do the new, hard, seemingly impossible thing.
Don’t die wishing you’d been braver, as so many, and perhaps most people, feel.
The magic happens outside your comfort zone.
