What can you achieve when stretching yourself by 10 percent?

By Katy Caroan On August 29, 2011 · 2 Comments

I recently had the pleasure of attending the Alandica Conference on Entrepreneurship and Personal Development. One of the last, but most memorable speakers was the HR Director of the local bank, Tove Erikslund: “Every morning, I ask myself: What can I do today to stretch myself 10% beyond my current comfort zone?”

Many of us were energized by her approach – how come we didn’t come up with this ourselves? The number made it much easier to commit to a daily challenge, a REALISTIC daily challenge. So, I’ve implemented the same approach when I work with my clients, and my experience is that the big fear of stepping out of the comfort zone becomes more manageable.

What did the local bank HR Director do to stretch herself 10% that day? Well, in front of the Finnish President Tarja Halonen, she started to dance salsa to waka waka tunes. Within minutes the full audience joined in and the so did the president. I still wonder what Tove Erikslund did the following day to stretch herself beyond that.

2 Responses to What can you achieve when stretching yourself by 10 percent?

Tove Erikslund says:

September 5, 2011 at 10:53 pm

I´m happy that I have inspired you to get out of your comfort zone now and then. I try to remember what I did the day after the conference. Honestly, I do not remember. I reflect almost every day what I have done to show courage and feel happiness. Yesterday I took a zumba class and got a lot of energy. I gave an interview in the local newspaper the other day about courage. I have heard so many fun stories after my “performance” so I wanted to give some more of my thinking about courage. I think I owed the great audience at the conference that.Tove

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Katy Caroan says:

September 6, 2011 at 6:24 am

Tove, you remain a great inspirational source for me and the people with whom you share your passion and courage! Imagine what could happen if we all did this on a regular basis…I look forward to taking part of your reflections!

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