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If you want to expand your reach, gain new skills, stretch yourself and take your writing to the next level, you can dance at the edge of your comfort zone\u2014that place where we have to push ourselves just a little bit to try something new that we\u2019ve been talking about for years.\n\n\n\nEmbrace the Edge of Your Comfort Zone\n\n\n\nAt the edge of our comfort zone we have to take risks, and taking risks\u2014even small ones\u2014can help us overcome irrational fears and rescue us from settling into the path of least resistance. It can save us from never accomplishing the goals\u2014even the dreams\u2014we\u2019ve never quite had the guts to try.\n\n\n\nDiscover Your Hidden Potential\n\n\n\nExperts advise us to step out of our comfort zone and take those risks, because that\u2019s when and where we make personal discoveries and learn we\u2019re capable of more than we ever thought or imagined. It gets us out of our safe spot and out into a place of adrenaline, adventure, and growth.\n\n\n\nA few years ago I stepped outside my comfort zone to start coaching, leveraging every bit of experience and knowledge I\u2019ve gained in 25+ years of writing, and with coaching, I\u2019ve discovered work that I love. It taps into almost every skill I\u2019ve acquired all these years.\n\n\n\nBecause I danced on the edges of my comfort zone, I gained a new sweet spot. Coaching allows me to celebrate successes in the lives of my clients, help them overcome hurdles, and I love it. That was worth the risk. What initially felt like a stretch turned out to be a perfect fit\u2014I never would have known if I hadn\u2019t pushed myself and taken the risk.\n\n\n\nLearning When to Retreat\n\n\n\nBut here\u2019s a different example. Several years ago I tried a type of writing that could have been lucrative. I worked hard and produced the best I was capable of, but it was outside my comfort zone and my area of strength. I could tell I was not improving and this was not ever going to be a sweet spot, so I stepped away from that work and then I tried to return to a style and genre where I could shine.\n\n\n\nI\u2019d been doing the other style long enough that I was drained and doubted myself. I\u2019d lost my pizzazz. I didn\u2019t have the confidence that needed to come through in my content. I struggled to get my groove back. \n\n\n\nIt came. Eventually. \n\n\n\nBut it\u2019s a reminder not to linger too long if the stress is too high\u2014there\u2019s a point of diminishing returns.\n\n\n\nWhile it might be good to step out of our safe spot sometimes, if we\u2019re continually operating outside our comfort zone, we might stray too far from our sweet\xa0spot.\n\n\n\nReturn to Your Sweet Spot from the Zone of Bad Stress \n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re out there in the hinterland so long you\u2019re cold and shaky and don\u2019t even know who you are anymore, anxiety can rise and confidence plummet\u2014not to mention quality.\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re not careful, you\u2019re operating in a place of nervous fear, and you can\u2019t even retrace your steps back to your sweet spot.\n\n\n\nDaniel Goleman wrote in Psychology Today:\n\n\n\n\n[W]hen demands become too great for us to handle, when the pressure overwhelms us, too much to do with too little time or support, we enter the zone of bad stress. Just beyond the optimal zone at the top of the performance arc, there is a tipping point where the brain secretes too many stress hormones, and they start to interfere with our ability to work well, to learn, to innovate, to listen, and to plan effectively. (Emphasis mine)1\n\n\n\n\nHe goes on to say an organization will be top-performing \u201cto the extent to which its employees can contribute their best skills at full force. The more moments of flow, or even just staying in the zone of engagement and motivation, the better\u201d (emphasis mine).2 \n\n\n\nFind Your Zone of Engagement\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s it, friend. Find that zone of engagement and motivation. \n\n\n\nIt\u2019s playing to your strengths\u2014maybe strengthening your strengths\u2014and the engagement happens because you are pushing yourself to the edge. \n\n\n\nSometimes.\n\n\n\nWhen I find myself outside my comfort zone for too long and I\u2019m losing motivation,