Koosje Koene Illustrations - Learn to draw: 5 reasons to step out of your comfort zone

Familiar things are safe. New things can be scary. When you want to learn something new, you have no idea what’s going to happen and you feel like you have no control at all. Those new things are outside of your comfort zone.

Now, you have a choice.
You could say: ‘I don’t feel like facing my fears. I’d rather stay inside my comfort zone and keep doing the things I already know.’_Sure, you could do that. However, that can become kind of boring don’t you agree?

Whether it’s trying a new drawing technique, starting a new art journal, picking up a challenging topic to draw, or even something completely unrelated to art and creativity - leaving your comfort zone will make you stronger. And there's nobody else to take that step but you.

Every time I take up a new challenge on drawing, or when I want to learn a new technique that is unfamiliar - I think: 'okay so this feels kind of scary, but what exactly do I have to loose?' Messing up an art journal page is nothing you can’t overcome, so let’s just go for it! Drawing people on the streets, learning to draw buildings, spending hours to make an elaborate drawing with colour pencils, diving right into a drawing with pen with no chance to erase lines… I can do all these things with a lot of joy now, although once they all scared me like crazy.
By stepping out of your comfort zone, you make the comfort zone larger. And you can keep making it larger, because there are so many other things to learn. Both creatively as in life in general!

(If you're interested in a little adventure I went on, which was completely out of my comfort zone - you can read all about it on my blog)

Here are 5 reasons why you should step out of your comfort zone:

-It’s right where the magic happens
By magic I mean: things that make life worthwhile and interesting. And you’ll see that facing your fears makes you realize that some things aren’t that scary after all.
-You will feel proud
Whether the result is like anything you expected - just DOING it, will give you a great sense of accomplishment
-It’ll help you learn and grow
By doing familiar things, you won’t be learning as much. As soon as you pluck the courage to do something new, you are learning and growing - and quicker than you may think
-You will let go of perfection
Because you don’t know what to expect on beforehand, all you can do is just dive in without expectations. a great way to fight perfection!
-You will inspire others
Even though you’re doing this for YOU, others will notice your courage and will feel inspired to try something new too.

So let’s be courageous.
You don’t need to take huge leaps at a time. Just dipping your toe in first is a fantastic start! Once you discover that doing new things don’t kill you, you may get more courageous and start exploring even further out of your comfort zone - into the magic!