An Interview with Maria Angelova
The science: This refers to becoming a lifelong learner. Learning will give you the knowledge to help you step outside your comfort zone and succeed. Often, many people are afraid to step outside their comfort zone because they believe they do not have the knowledge to succeed. Therefore, the more you learn, the more knowledge you will have to be ready to step outside your comfort zone and become successful. There are many ways to become a lifelong learner, through formal and informal education and self-education. Click here to learn how to become a lifelong learner.
It feels most comfortable to stick with what we are familiar with. But anyone who has achieved great success will tell you that true growth comes from pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. What are some ways that influential people have pushed themselves out of their comfort zone to grow both personally and professionally? As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mykim Tran.
Dr. Mykim Tran is a humanistic psychologist. Her mission is to help individuals create a powerful legacy that will continue for eternity. Dr. Tran is the founder and CEO of Wake-Up Foundation, an agency providing personal development programs to help individuals thrive and reach their full potential. She has developed two groundbreaking models, the “Life Purpose Pyramid” and “Life Success Formula,” to help individuals develop a powerful legacy. The models help individuals discover their life purpose, build a solid foundation to overcome challenges and step outside of their comfort zone to thrive.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was born in Vietnam and immigrated to America with my family in 1992 at 6. Entering America and learning about the American dream intrigued me. Learning more about the American dream and from admirable, successful people, I wanted to seek the same path as them. The two important things I learned from successful people and how they achieve their American dream are passion and personal development. In my early 20s, I was determined to develop and install those two components to achieve my American dream.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person.” by Scotto Sorrell
As human beings, we are born with good intentions to impact the world positively. As a humanistic psychologist, I have discovered that making the world a better place starts with the individual, you. Improving yourself will improve the world because you are a part of the world. Many people underestimate the power of how their individuality contributes to a better society when they become a better version of themselves. The positive qualities and traits they develop will shine outward and positively impact the world.
Improving myself has helped me to become a role model. For instance, others would see what I am doing to become a better person, and they can learn from my behaviors and apply the same things to themselves. In psychology, this is called social learning, which is still one of the most effective models for learning and developing. Becoming a better person has given me the energy and strength to help myself and others more successfully. When I become positive, my positive energy will transmit to others. Whatever you want the world to be, be that person.
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
“To Kill a Mocking Bird” was the first movie I watched that impacted me when I came to America. It helped me understand some of the things happening in America at a young age and, at some level, still happening today.
The movie has taught me to have an open mindset and to learn before making judgments or conclusions. America is so diverse compared to Vietnam, where it only has one culture. Therefore, understanding the American culture is more complex and requires more learning, understanding, and patience.
Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion. Let’s start with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. What does “getting outside of your comfort zone” mean?
Getting outside of your comfort zone means doing something that makes you feel uncomfortable when thinking about doing it. Doing something that requires confidence and courage, or you believe you cannot become successful.
Can you help articulate a few reasons why it is important to get out of your comfort zone?
Discover unlimited strengths: Stepping outside your comfort zone will help you discover new strengths. Often, stepping outside your comfort zone requires you to learn new knowledge and skills to succeed. Those learned new knowledge and skills will reveal your hidden strengths. As a human being, you will always have hidden strengths that you can discover, no matter how talented you think you are. If you know all of your strengths, then you are a perfect person, but you are not. The more you step outside of your comfort zone, the more strengths you discover about yourself, and the more you can use them to reach your full potential.
Life purpose: Stepping outside your comfort zone will also unleash your life purpose and discover what you are meant to do. Your life purpose does not reveal to you the moment you are born but through learning and applying different things. Sometimes, your life purpose will be so hidden or odd that it will require you to do something extraordinary that you might never think of doing to discover. Therefore, the more you step outside your comfort zone, the faster you discover your life purpose.
Personal growth: Your self-confidence, courage, and other inner strengths will increase every time you step outside your comfort zone, whether you succeed or fail. It is the act of stepping outside of your comfort zone that will build your inner strength.
Is it possible to grow without leaving your comfort zone? Can you explain what you mean?
You can grow without leaving your comfort zone. For instance, you can grow by learning new knowledge and skills that you believe you can master quickly. Every time you learn and apply something new that is growth. However, that growth will be slow and might not build the inner strength you need to overcome challenges to succeed.
Can you share some anecdotes from your personal experience? Can you share a story about a time when you stepped out of your comfort zone and how it helped you grow? How does it feel to take those first difficult steps?
Becoming a motivational speaker and making a name for myself to fulfill my American Dream has pushed me to grow. I went into the field with no knowledge and experience but with the desire, passion, and determination to become successful.
However, I underestimated the learning and effort required of me to succeed. I have encountered so many failures, but I still have a deep passion for becoming successful. Therefore, I have to learn ways to overcome my failures. The challenges push me to embark on a personal development journey to overcome them. The journey has built my knowledge, skills, and inner strength, and today, those growths have instilled in me the self-confidence and self-belief that I can overcome and achieve anything.
Taking that journey was the beginning of my journey of self-discovery. I not only learned how to become a successful speaker but also led me to become a humanistic psychologist, who I am meant to become in life. Even though I still encounter challenges, the decision and journey are worth it because every time I overcome a challenge, it builds my inner strength. As a human being, there is no better feeling to develop than to have a passion for personal growth because it is one quality of human potential that helps me achieve personal and professional success.
What are your “five ways to push past your comfort zone, to grow both personally and professionally”?
The science: This refers to becoming a lifelong learner. Learning will give you the knowledge to help you step outside your comfort zone and succeed. Often, many people are afraid to step outside their comfort zone because they believe they do not have the knowledge to succeed. Therefore, the more you learn, the more knowledge you will have to be ready to step outside your comfort zone and become successful. There are many ways to become a lifelong learner, through formal and informal education and self-education. Click here to learn how to become a lifelong learner.
The arts: This refers to creativity. Creativity helps you step outside your comfort zone because you know you can create and innovate to succeed. Creativity also enables you to apply your knowledge successfully because you can apply it unlimitedly. The three components to help you increase your creativity are knowledge, creative thinking, and motivation. Click here to learn how to increase your creativity.
The motivation: This refers to having the right purposes. Make sure you have a strong purpose for why you are stepping outside of your comfort zone. Stepping outside your comfort zone can be scary, meaning you need something stronger than your fear to push you forward. For instance, stepping outside your comfort zone helps you fulfill your greatest needs and desires and helps you become a better person. The clearer you are on your purposes, the more motivated you are to do whatever it takes to achieve your goals, even stepping outside your comfort zone to succeed. Click here to learn how to develop the right motivation and purpose for your life.
The mindset: This refers to having the correct beliefs on what it means to step outside of your comfort zone. For instance, stepping outside your comfort zone is a positive thing because it can promote personal growth because you are learning new things. Even if you fail, you still learn new skills, and that is personal growth. When you develop that mindset, you will be more motivated to step outside of your comfort zone. Click here to learn how to develop the right mindset for success.
The ambition: This refers to developing a strong life purpose. You must set goals where you tackle the world’s greatest challenges. You must believe in yourself that you can change the world. This ambition will help you set goals outside your comfort zone to succeed. The more you work on fulfilling your ambition, the more it will overpower your fear and push you forward. Daily action to fulfill your ambition will help you experience meaning, purpose, and belonging, fueling your motivation even more to step outside of your comfort zone. As a result, you will grow personally and professionally. Click here to learn how to build your ambition.
From your experience or perspective, what are some common barriers that keep someone from pushing out of their comfort zone?
Lack of self-confidence: Many people believe that they cannot become successful. However, as a human being, you can overcome and achieve anything. It just depends on your self-belief and self-confidence.
Unprepared for failure: Many people are not prepared for failure. This does not mean they will fail, but in case they fail because there is no guarantee in life. If people are mentally prepared for failure and know how to overcome it, they will have more courage to step outside their comfort zone. Therefore, developing the right mindset about stepping outside their comfort zone and overcoming failure is essential.
Comfortable in their comfort zone: Many people do not want to give up the good to get the great. They are afraid to lose what they already have. They fear their life will be worse off if they step outside their comfort zone. They believe that what they have is good enough. They also believe that their effort in stepping outside of their comfort zone will not be worth their time and effort. Therefore, they would settle for what they have and not take risks by stepping outside their comfort zone.
Avoid uncomfortable feelings: Many people do not want to experience the uncomfortable feelings of stress and anxiety in stepping outside their comfort zone. As human beings, we tend to avoid doing things that promote those uncomfortable feelings. For example, experiencing failure is uncomfortable, and many people do not want to experience that feeling. Therefore, they will stay within their comfort zone.
There is a well-known quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt that says, “Do something that scares you every day”. What exactly does this mean to you? Is there inherent value in doing something that pushes you out of your comfort zone, even if it does not relate to personal or professional growth? For example, if one is uncomfortable about walking alone at night should they purposely push themselves to do it often for the sake of going beyond their comfort zone? Can you please explain what you mean?
Yes, doing something that you are fearful of will help you build the habit of believing in yourself that you can overcome and achieve anything. Your courage builds whenever you do something fearful because you become stronger after the act. The little daily act of courage will help you be ready for something big in the future. It does not matter what kind of fearful act you do; that courage can carry over to all aspects of life, personally and professionally.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I would start a meaningful and purposeful movement to educate, motivate, and inspire individuals to reach their full potential. In the 1900s, leaders, psychologists, educators, and other influencers started the self-esteem movement because they believed it would motivate individuals to reach their full potential. However, it failed because individuals need a higher level of motivation to become successful. As a humanistic psychologist, I have discovered that creating meaning and purpose motivates and inspires individuals to reach their full potential. Creating meaning and purpose will help individuals unleash their strengths and creativity to make an impact in the world. On the journey, individuals will grow personally and professionally, transform into the best version of themselves, and become the person they are meant to be.
We must start early and educate, motivate, and empower the young generation as soon as possible on the importance of creating meaning and purpose. Creating and meaning are challenging because they require ongoing learning and development. The sooner the young people have the opportunity to learn and create meaning and purpose, the more they are ready for the future to become productive citizens and bring good to the world.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
I would love to have lunch with Bill Gates. I have always admired his work with Microsoft and as a philanthropist.
How can our readers follow you online?
Website: www.mykimtran.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mykimtranphd/
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
Dr Mykim Tran On How to Go Beyond Your Comfort Zone To Grow Both Personally and Professionally was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.