Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#1

Post by krmmalik » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 12:58 PM UTC

When did you last push yourself past your comfort zone or do something spontaneous?

What it is that you did, and what was the outcome?

I'm trying to determine whether pushing oneself past the comfort zone always results in a positive outcome.

I thought asking the question on here might get me a good sample. ;-)

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#2

Post by c00ki3s » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 1:39 PM UTC

Just this morning in fact, when I got out of bed.

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#3

Post by vyrotek » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 1:49 PM UTC

Quitting my job and working full-time on my startup was spontaneous and definitely out of my comfort zone. Basically, I had been working at night on my project for a while and an opportunity to get funding landed out of nowhere. Within a few months I found myself discussing the opportunity with my wife (who at the time was pregnant with our 2nd child) and then I quit my day job.

That's where I'm at today. But every day I feel more comfortable being out of my comfort zone... if that makes any sense. There are so many opportunities, experiences and connections that I have developed while working on my startup. My only fear now is going back to that old comfort zone. I'm working hard so I don't have to :)

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#4

Post by fsniper » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 2:02 PM UTC

I did it with my eating and workout habits and lost over 40Kg :) It really feels good not to be an obese :)

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#5

Post by wlievens » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 2:07 PM UTC

fsniper wrote: post #4

I did it with my eating and workout habits and lost over 40Kg :) It really feels good not to be an obese :)

That is impressive. Congratulations.

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#6

Post by wlievens » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 2:08 PM UTC

vyrotek wrote: post #3

Quitting my job and working full-time on my startup was spontaneous and definitely out of my comfort zone. Basically, I had been working at night on my project for a while and an opportunity to get funding landed out of nowhere. Within a few months I found myself discussing the opportunity with my wife (who at the time was pregnant with our 2nd child) and then I quit my day job. That's where I'm at today. But every d…

Could you elaborate on the "funding out of nowhere" story? Sounds like an interesting anecdote at first sight :-)

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#7

Post by nagrom » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 2:14 PM UTC

I just moved from Glasgow to Geneva to work at CERN (a particle physics lab) for 2 months.

It's been much more difficult than I expected, and I was apprehensive to begin with!

However, when things are uncomfortable I tend to fret for a while and then, eventually, take control of my situation. Sometimes you need to go through that period of discomfort to regain control of your life which has seemingly slipped from your grasp without your noticing it.

I regularly leave my home city to work abroad for months at a time. Sometimes it's fantastic. And sometimes (rarely) it becomes a mess.

When it goes well, it's great. New experiences and new people give you a whole new perspective on life. And if it doesn't go great, then it's probably simple enough to go back to your comfort zone and truly appreciate what you have. If it's not easy to go back - was it really your comfort zone?

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#8

Post by fsniper » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 2:24 PM UTC

fsniper wrote: post #4

I did it with my eating and workout habits and lost over 40Kg :) It really feels good not to be an obese :)

And now I'm thinking of working abroad. Are there any European company or startup looking for a senior Linux system administrator here?

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#9

Post by fsniper » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 2:31 PM UTC

wlievens wrote: post #5

fsniper wrote: post #4

I did it with my eating and workout habits and lost over 40Kg :) It really feels good not to be an obese :)

That is impressive. Congratulations.

Thank you. I'm also impressed with what I've accomplished. Once upon a time it seemed like an impossible mission. If you have asked me "if I could lose 20kgs ever", I would hesitate to answer yes. Most of my friends are astonished with this.

Re: Ask HN: When did you last put yourself out of your comfort zone?

#10

Post by vyrotek » Thu, Jul 29, 2010, 2:37 PM UTC

wlievens wrote: post #6

vyrotek wrote: post #3

Quitting my job and working full-time on my startup was spontaneous and definitely out of my comfort zone. Basically, I had been working at night on my project for a while and an opportunity to get funding landed out of nowhere. Within a few months I found myself discussing the opportunity with my wife (who at the time was pregnant with our 2nd child) and then I quit my day job. That's where I'm at today. But every d…

Could you elaborate on the "funding out of nowhere" story? Sounds like an interesting anecdote at first sight :-)

Well, my co-founder and I have always wanted to apply to YC but we couldn't figure out how to make it work. We're both married with young children. So, we just worked on it at night for a while and figured we would just try to bootstrap it. We frequently participated in a monthly startup conference in Utah called http://www.LaunchUp.org (site seems down right now) and eventually we were asked to present. The night we presented, someone announced that they were starting a program similar to YC for Utah called http://www.BoomStartup.com. We applied and were accepted and we're still in the program right now!

You can check out our About Us for a bit more information - http://www.IActionable.com/about