# Leaning into your fears/Pushing yourself outside of your comfort zone.



## agape (Apr 12, 2009)

Ok, so I imagine everybody understands how horrible it is being forced into an uncomfortable social situation, and i'm sure most of you will agree that being in such a forced situation really doesn't help overcome SA. But i'm interested to know what sort of things people have done INTENTIONALLY to put themselves into what they perceive to be an unpleasant social situation (of which you had slight control), or the ways in which people have leaned into their fears where the choice has been their own .
For me I try and make small talk with customers at work regarding topics of personal interest, I have also intentionally gone to the supermarket quite a few times looking really out of place (like by having wacky hair that I wouldn't normally dream of and wearing rather 'odd' clothing that I would also never dream of wearing).
Might sound minor I know, but once you do these rather odd things (as viewed by society) and you don't have any negative feedback, then you start to gain more confidence.
So does anybody else have any of their own similar success stories?


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## Panic Prone (Mar 5, 2006)

I got into personal training over 5 years ago. I told myself I wanted to get myself in the most uncomfortable situations I can and make myself better socially. Well after 5 years in the industry I learned a lot. I posted about my story in the coping forum.. so you can check it out there.

http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f26/my-attempt-to-improve-my-sa-has-come-to-a-62704/


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## OverAnalyzer2989 (Mar 25, 2009)

I constantly try to challenge myself to gain better social skills, but have yet to do something with my physical appearance to gain confidence. I have extremely low self-esteem issues that I feel I cant get past. If I could just get up the courage to do so, I would. I keep telling myself that baby steps will eventually get me where I want to be in life, but honestly, it's not getting me much of anywhere. Maybe I need to be more patient, but I feel like if I dont do these things while I'm young and able to look stupid while making mistakes, I'll never overcome it.


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## rockst4r (May 4, 2009)

i hate when people stare at my but I had my hair colored bright crimson red for a few years - - an incredible head turner - -how ironic huh?


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