Getting outside your comfort zone is an old adage. And one that I think is critical when it comes to personal development. Getting outside your comfort zone allows you to push the boundaries of your own self and to find out what you are made of.

I learnt something new on the weekend. I discovered a new way of getting outside your comfort zone. And it didn’t involve being uncomfortable. It just involved doing things you haven’t done before. Or things you previously thought you wouldn’t enjoy. Above all, it involved doing things differently.

I used to laugh and poke fun at my Father for being a process driven individual. He goes through the same routine every morning. He finds peace in doing this. It is structure that has allowed him to be very successful. The irony of this is that I am myself becoming more and more like him. I don’t like change. Stronger than that, I repel change. I do things the same way every time. Always drive the same way when going somewhere. Always sit at the same table when given the chance. Same hair cut. Same thing for breakfast every morning. It is scary how process driven I am.

This weekend just been, I got out of Sydney. I took a road trip to the Blue Mountains and mixed things up. Instead of spending Saturday afternoon in a pub betting on horses, I went bush walking. We are talking legit bushwalking too. Up and down what seemed like 10,000 stairs. Realistically, that may be an exaggeration. It was probably only 9,000. There was a dirt track and cliffs and waterfalls. Allt hat good stuff.

I ate good food. Drank good wine. I exercised outdoors and breathed in clean air. I relaxed and I unwound. I hit reset.

It was different to pretty much every other weekend I have had this year. There was no running around or needing to be in 10 different places. I was not a slave to the social calendar nor over-commitment.

Driving back to Sydney yesterday afternoon to see my Mother for her birthday, it felt like a far longer time away than just 2 nights. It was amazing.

It has made me appreciate my down time so much more. On top of this, it has made me realise that there are many more things to do than just sit in a pub watching sport. I was not expecting to enjoy walking for bloody ages going up and down stairs. I was not expecting to enjoy cruising in and out of different shops. I was not expecting to enjoy getting back to nature. But I was wrong.

This is an amazing country we live in. I now motivated to get outside and see much more of it.