I have been a stay at home mom for 15 years. In that time, I can only think of a few times I have actually been away for more than a few hours from my children.
A picture of one of the speakers at the Declare Conference. I took this picture of Jeff Goins for my fellow Tribe Writer friends.
Last weekend I stepped out of my comfort zone and I am so glad I did. I went to the Declare Conference in Dallas, Tx. It is a conference for Christian Women bloggers.
I stepped out of my comfort zone and contacted a complete stranger that turned out to be a new friend named Margo. I found her on the conference’s Facebook page. We were both looking to share a room. I found her blog and realized she lived in the Houston area too. We decided to carpool to the conference.
That may not seem like a big deal to most people but for me it was. I had butterflies in my stomach over whether I’d have anything to say or if we would have a personality conflict. It turned out that Margo was was very friendly and I enjoyed visiting with her as we traveled.
We arrived at the conference in time to register before dinner. There were great speakers in all the sessions. The hardest thing to do was decide which classes to attend during the breakout sessions.
I got to hear Mary DeMuth‘s presentation “Blessed is the Blogger”. I have one of her books that I’ll be talking about in a future post.
A “Meet and Greet” time turned into an impromptu question and answer session with a literary agent, Jessica Kirkland. I learned a lot. Probably one of the biggest things I took away from that session was to put my email address on my contact page. For my fellow writers this is a big deal.
Jessica told how she blog hops. There have been times that she has found a story on a blog that would make a good book and if the author of the post doesn’t have their email anywhere on their site she doesn’t contact them. What I learn from this is to make yourself available. Don’t be so afraid of spammers that you hide from opportunities that might be one simple comment or one click away.
I learned so much from so many speakers during this conference. I won’t list them all here right now. I may bring them up later as I put some of the things they’ve taught me into practice.
I want to tell you about one other stepping-out-of-my-comfort-zone moment during the conference. I didn’t take very many pictures of the meeting but I did take one picture for my fellow Tribe Writers. I had to be brave and shake Jeff Goins’ hand. 🙂 It’s not everyday that you get to meet a celebrity.
I started following Jeff Goins’ blog before he launched the Tribe Writers course. It was his free book The Writer’s Manifesto that struck a chord with me.
I saw how he had come from just a normal everyday guy to having influence over the writing world in a very short time. And it was doable. He started where I’m at now. He was once a beginner too. Now he is writing books and being asked to speak at conferences. Will I be asked to speak at a conference one day? That would be stepping out of my comfort zone.
I don’t think I’d ever be asked to speak at a writing conference but what about a family conference or a women’s conference? I’m not that big a deal yet but one day one of you may be thinking, “Wow, I knew her when…”
Right now, you, my faithful blog followers are seeing me at the beginning. I’m just about to finish the rough draft of my book Don’t Quit: Build a Legacy of Commitment.
Ah, you thought I’d forgotten about that didn’t you? No. I hadn’t forgotten and the launch date is still August 30th. My book is about commitment and will be for everyone in all walks of life. My husband has already had a sneak peak and he said that it’s good.
I’m a little nervous and excited at the same time. It’s hard stepping out and doing something different but the results are tremendous and I know it will be well worth the journey.
How about you? What are you doing to step out of your comfort zone? Please tell me about it in the comments.
*The Tribe Writer’s link above is an affiliate link. I get a portion of the profits made from anyone that signs up under my link. I am a member and highly recommend this course.
Like
this is tremendous!
Thanks, Laura!
Hi Stacie! I am so glad God saw fit to allow us both to go to the conference! You have a real heart for the Lord and I knew we’d hit it off. 🙂 Keep up the great work and know that you are in the palm of His hand. Blessings, Margo
Thanks, Margo! I really enjoyed our time together. It was great having a friend at the conference. You were truly a blessing. I can’t wait to see the direction God takes you in your writing.
Hey Stacie! I am so glad to hear about this conference. I may go to this next year over SheSpeaks. 🙂 God has moved me out of my comfort zone in a few areas this year. My biggest challenge has become balancing extremes – I used to find much comfort in perfectionism…it had been my escape from procrastination and underachievement. From one extreme to the other. So now I am trying to find how to serve well in my church but reach out in a meaningful way to unchurched friends…and how to be efficient, but not task-oriented…and how to put people first but not give up on the “list” either…all of this without coming unglued.
I am in need of your book – I am about half way through my book and need that “second wind”. 😉 Can’t wait to read it!
It would be great to get to meet you face-to – face, Britta. I am getting closer to finishing my book. I keep having ideas come to me. Having an end date helps a lot. Thanks for the encouragement. I can’t wait to read your book.
Love this! God has also been taking me out of my comfort zone lately. Going to Declare was the latest. 🙂 But it was wonderful. Loved reading your post.
Thank you, Deanna!