(Psst! Before reading more, grab yourself a copy of the Edge Moves™ Playbook. This is an interactive article that will help you play big in your leadership! Got your copy handy? Let’s go!)
“A body at motion stays in motion; a body at rest stays at rest.” — Sir Isaac Newton
The Law of Motion applies to your leadership and career too. If you don’t test the limits of your comfort zone and skills, actively looking for new opportunities and ways to grow, you’re less likely to advance in your role, company, or industry. If you’re happy with where you’re at and the value you deliver, that’s something to celebrate, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you aspire to take on new projects, move up to management, or reach a different title, then it’s inevitable. You need to get out of your comfort zone.
I know, I know. It’s easier said than done, especially when our brains are wired to favour familiarity. Stretching your boundaries won’t happen overnight. So, I’ve built a tool that will help you stretch your comfort and potential incrementally. And before you know it, you’ll be doing things you used to only dream of, making leaps and bounds in your career.
Continue reading to learn what an Edge Move™ is and how you can start implementing them to get to the next level of your leadership and career.
What’s an Edge Move™?
An Edge Move™ is a concept I created in my leadership and communication development workshops. It’s any action you take that starts stretching you from your comfort zone, helping you get closer to the goals, desires, and dreams that are sitting beyond.
Going right from your comfort zone to beyond can seem daunting, so by edging out with one new action at a time, your path to change and growth becomes more realistic and manageable.
Your 3 Levels of Comfort
Being primed for familiarity and safety, an Edge Move™ can train your brain to find new opportunities and change less scary, helping you smoothly transition from your comfort zone to beyond. But what do the levels of comfort look like at work?
- Comfort Zone: The activities, skills, and habits you’re already good at.
- On the Edge: The activities, skills, and habits you can start applying to take yourself closer to your goals and aspirations.
- Beyond: The goals and aspirations you want to achieve.
The Importance of Making an Edge Move™
When you start a new routine—let’s say running for instance—you don’t start by running 10 kilometers every day. You get into the groove gradually. Maybe on your first day you start with 3 kilometers, and by your second week you increase the distance to 5 kilometers.
Going from what’s familiar to unfamiliar is the same thing. Doing it all at once can put a shock on your system and force you back into your comfy bubble. But with one Edge Move™, one step at a time, you can journey into what’s uncomfortable in a way that allows you to adapt without sacrificing your development.
Are You Eating FUDGE?
Making an Edge Move™ can also make it easier for you to manage the common culprits that keep us in our comfort zones:
- F: Fear.
- U: Uncertainty.
- D: Doubt.
- G: Guilt.
- E: Expectations.
Any time I try something new, whether it be a new strategy for my business or a new element to micro-farming, naming these emotions helps me overcome them. I’ll even say: “I’m eating a big piece of FUDGE right now.” If only it was as yummy as the dessert.
When facing a new challenge, ask yourself:
- What do you fear may happen or not happen?
- Where are you uncertain about in your abilities?
- What’s causing you to doubt your confidence?
- Are you feeling guilty? What’s the source?
- What expectations are you holding yourself to?
5 Ways to Start Making Edge Moves™ So You Can Get to the Next Level of Your Leadership and Career
Whether you’ve been in your career for 2 years or 10 years, you may be asking yourself, “How can I continue to grow as a leader?”
Remember: we’re all leaders. Whether you lead people, projects, or even your own ideas, it makes you a leader.
Edge Moves™ act as steppingstones to get you to where you want to go. But how can you start identifying and using them?
Step 1: Ask the Golden Question
The golden question I want you to ask yourself is: what would you do if you weren’t afraid? If money, time, emotions weren’t objects, what would you do?
Don’t jot down your thoughts in a document you’ll forget about later. Write your answers in the Edge Moves™ Playbook I’ve designed for you. This is a fillable workbook you can come back to with every new challenge you face.
Step 2: Define Your Limits
By defining what you’re already good at and what might be uncomfortable for you, you can then identify what your Edge Moves™ are and how you can get from point A to point B with meaningful adaptability.
- Define your incompetencies. What are you not good at? Where do you get stuck?
- Define your competencies. What skills help you get by that you’re pretty good at?
- Define your excellence. What are you known and recognized for?
- Define your brilliance. What do you do in a unique way that no one else can do?
Reflect and write down your answers in your Edge Moves™ Playbook.
Step 3: Dip Your Toe In
You don’t need to form new habits all at once to reach your next level. Incrementally add them throughout your workday until they don’t feel like such a stretch anymore.
Step 4: Include Something Familiar
Don’t leave what you already know and are good at in your comfort bubble; lean on them and use them to your advantage as you venture beyond what’s familiar.
Make a list of what’s familiar to you in your Edge Moves™ Playbook.
Step 5: Act of Service
Trying something new and scary can make you feel like you’re in the spotlight. Something that helps me is this mindset shift: anything you do to improve and grow has an impact on others.
So, when thinking about overcoming your specific challenge, ask yourself:
- Who will my team get to be if I reach my goals?
- Who will my business get to be if I reach my goals?
- Who will my clients/customers get to be if I reach my goals?
Write down your answers in your playbook!
It’s Time to Play Big in Your Leadership and Career
You weren’t meant for small things. You were put on this earth to make a brilliant, meaningful impact. You’re here to make a difference.
Don’t play it small and just read the blog. Put your newfound knowledge nuggets into action by grabbing your own Edge Moves™ Playbook.
If you’re serious about getting to the next level of your leadership and career, this will be a go-to companion that will help you get there.
Soon you’ll be thinking, challenges and discomfort aren’t scary, they’re opportunities.
Play big in your leadership now.
