Kathy,
Welcome to Green HOPE Coaching!

I
have taken some first steps out of my comfort zone and toward the dream planted deep within me, leading me into the lives of others. I am learning, growing and finding it to be as equally rewarding as it is challenging.  I thought it was a good time to challenge you to take a bold step out of your comfort zone as well.  May these articles & offerings included here give you something to ponder in your journey.

ARTICLES

Your Comfort Zone
By Kate Steinbacher


Is Comfort all it is cracked up to be? Think with me for a moment. Think about the times during your life that you have been comfortable. Comfort with your job. Comfort in your relationships. Comfort with your home. Is there a sense of peace that comes to mind? Is there a status quo? How about a bit of boredom and inactivity? Perhaps even complacency? I'd like to pose the concept that being too comfortable can also be a detriment. When we are most comfortable and confident we often become stale and sometimes even lazy. We are not as aware of changes and nuances going on around us. It happens to people, and it happens to whole companies as well. When we lose our edge to too much comfort, we risk stagnation, and in this fast paced world, we WILL be passed by.

Now let's look at the places in your life where you encountered your most significant growth. These are generally places when we are outside our comfort zone. Often they are times when we are not in control of the outcome. It can be as painful as a divorce and having to leave to be on your own for the first time, or the loss of a job, or your first year out of high school or college, struggling to make it, getting that first job. Consider the discomfort and the investment you had to make and the risks you had to take. Looking back at a difficult time we have come through, we can see we had skills or developed skills we did not believe were possible. When it is all over and done, we have grown, learned lessons about ourselves and the world and how we may more "comfortably" move through a difficult place the next time. And even more interesting, we have enlarged our field of comfort or our comfort zone. Not that we would choose to put ourselves in as painful a place as divorce or job loss, but we now can recognize skills, and attitudes we had to develop, that we can use in lesser situations. Each time we step outside our comfort zone we are faced with growth and learning, we enlarge our world. Another return on our investment of stepping out of our comfort zone is the perspective we can gain. What was once the most feared loss, can sometimes become a gift.

My challenge to you is to find YOUR Growth ZONE, somewhere between comfort and pain. Take some steps outside your comfort zone and embrace the growth and strength it fosters. Take responsibility for a project at work or at home that will stretch your abilities. Join Toastmasters and hone your speaking skills. Take one step.

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Taking the Step Outside the Comfort Zone
by Kathy Burrus

Over the past few months, I've been reminded of MY dream- the dream that was given to me long ago, a dream that was all but forgotten in the shadows of the past few years with all the obstacles, and border bullies, and set backs.

If you've read Bruce Wilkinson's book, The Dream Giver, you understand what I'm saying. It's the story of a Nobody named Ordinary who lived in the Land of Familiar doing the Usual. Then one morning Ordinary woke up and discovered a Big Dream that lay in a small corner of his heart. The rest of the book is about his journey out of the Land of Familiar (out of his comfort zone) to his Big Dream!

I actually feel like I've been at the place in Ordinary's journey where he had arrived at the Big Dream - was doing the Big Dream- saw success at the Big Dream. When Dream Giver says, Come further!

"He opened the gate and stepped outside. But as he did, he felt strangely...uncomfortable. He looked toward the distant Unknown.
Well done, Ordinary! the Dream Giver said. You are a good and faithful Dreamer. Now let me show you more.

'More?' asked Ordinary.
 

More, said the Dream Giver. There's so much more of my Big Dream waiting for you!...Soon you will leave what is familiar once again, the Dream Giver said. And I will be with you!"

That's where I'm standing right now- between the Land of Familiar (my comfort zone, even with it's pain and discomfort) and the Unknown. It actually feels really good. I had thought for a while that my dream was dead- or I was too lost to find it again. But my Ever Faithful, Dream Giving God has not forgotten me- nor let me forget what He planted in me so long ago.

So here I am Lord! I've picked up the backpack and I'm ready- at the edge of the Unknown- knowing You are here with me! Let's begin this journey!

"Ordinary looked again at what lay in his (her) future. The horizon was full of promise. 'Thank you, Dream Giver!' Ordinary whispered. 'Thank you for the gift of my Big Dream!' And (s)he began to hum an unfamiliar tune."

The End, NOT!
It's only the BEGINNING!
What about You?
 

RESOURCES

This is one of my favorite books that encourages stepping out of the comfort zone and following the dream planted in you by God himself. 

The Dream Giver: Following Your God-Given Destiny By: Bruce Wilkinson

Bruce Wilkinson, the author of the Prayer of Jabez, believes that each of us has a deep desire to know and fulfill our life dream. However, we usually fail to live out this dream because we are either afraid of failure or simply do not believe that God can bring our dream to life. In The Dream Giver Wilkinson explains that our truest and deepest dream is not merely a personal flight of fancy but is the dream that God has given us in order that we might both fulfill our destiny and bring Him the greatest glory.
 

THOUGHTS & TIPS

A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown. Denis Waitley

God's expanding of your life may depend on you taking a great faith-step in the near future. Leaving what is familiar and safe and secure; what seems economically feasible. God's great adventure often begins with a command to leave - to leave what is geographically familiar, relationally familiar, and methodologically familiar. And God usually doesn't show you the whole picture of what He's leading you into, just that next step. He asked Abraham to leave for a future that was described simply as "the land I will show you." God wants you to trust the Planner, not the plan.
Ron Hutchcraft  (for more of the story go to click here.) 


EVENTS

Revist Your Dream - (6 week coaching program)
Does it feel that in the harriedness of life, your dream is all but forgotten.  Yet deep in the core of who you are there is a longing, a yearning that continues to prick the recesses of your heart.  It's bigger than you- but you know you are to be part of it.  

If so, my heart goes out to you. We’ve all been in these kinds of situations at some point in our lives and they are never easy. But now's the time!  Revisit the Dream planted in you!  Life is too short to waste doing things that don't matter!  

Therefore, for a limited time I’ve decided to offer a special one-on-one "Revisit Your Dream" Coaching Program. During these sessions we’ll work together to… 

=> Create a crystal clear vision for the work you were born to do (hint: it won't even feel like work)

=> Uncover hidden challenges that may be sabotaging your next steps

=> Leave this sessions renewed, re-energized, and inspired to follow the most rewarding and fulfilling job you've ever had

If you’d like to take advantage of this very special, very limited "Revist Your Dream" coaching program,
join me for a totally FREE 30 minute “Revisit Your Dream” discovery session. 
Hit reply and answer the following questions:

1. How long have you been in your current job?
2. What was the last job you had?
3. Did you like it?
4. How long did you stay at that job?
5. What would you do if time & money were no object?
6. On a scale of 0-10, how important is it for you to find your idea career right now?

Since I'm making this offer for the first time right now and I don’t know how intense the response will be, I can’t guarantee a coaching session for everyone. I’ll take as many people as I can and then start a waiting list.

You can expect to get contacted to schedule your session within the next 3 business days. If you don’t hear from me, it means I’ve received more requests than I can handle right now. If something opens up I’ll get in touch with you at a later time.

Be sure to include your name, email address, phone number, and time zone when you request your session so that I can get in touch with you to schedule your session.

Let's work together to reconnect with all that God has given you!  Contact me today!

Seeing Green Hope!
Kathy


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Kathy Burrus
kathy@greenhopecoaching.com

 


Kathy Burrus
Green Hope Coaching with Kathy Burrus