When I Left My Comfort Zone, Magic Happened!

It was the month of August and I was scrolling the analytics tab of my blog to look for areas of improvement. The blog had crossed 0.6 million views in a matter of 8 months and I couldn't have asked for more. I still remember writing on Quora with no intention to start a blog someday. And just like the blog, I had no plans to start the YouTube Channel either.

Both decisions were made after hearing what the community had to say. In most of our marketing classes on campus, we were taught that "the consumer is always right" but this was my first-hand experience at observing what happens when you listen to your audience.

My blog audience recommended me to start a YouTube Channel and it's been 6.5 months since I uploaded the first video. With over 56 videos now, the channel has clocked 47,000 hours of watch time, 1 million views and 25,000 subscribers. Compared to the blog, the channel took less than half the time to overtake it.

This feat, by all means, is unbelievable, at least to me.

When I think of the day when I was recording my first video, I remember being scared of others' judgement. In fact, it may come off as a surprise if I share that I was most concerned about my voice (try listening to your WhatsApp voice note sometime to understand what I was feeling). I was also afraid of the fact that my videos are in the PPT/animated format and that it may lead to a reduced watch time.

Little did I know that the things I feared the most would turn out to be the things that helped me the most.

I am quite certain that I would not have taken this leap had the community of the blog not been there. Was it uncomfortable? Yes, getting out of your comfort zone is not easy. But, was it worth it? YES! I would have never been able to learn so much about social media analytics had it not been for these leaps I took due to the community's support. In a way, I learnt all this, not knowing what I was getting into.

And that's what happens with most of us when we get out of our comfort zones. We are not sure where exactly we're headed but we're indeed sure of the scary feeling inside. We know it's not something that comes naturally to us but at the same time, we want to explore what's on the other side.

Having crossed that bridge with regards to the YouTube Channel, let me share that what you experience out of your comfort zone may seem scary indeed, but if you keep your faith intact, you will surely get to live a life you've never lived before. Good or bad depends on whether what you receive matches with what you intended to receive, but it will surely be a change from the life you're living right now.

And in my opinion, that change is worth taking the leap.

Congratulations everyone for 25K, for helping me see what lies out of one's comfort zone and for making the magic happen! I owe this to all of you.