I promise you that all this “think pink” won’t turn you into a Teletubby… as long as this isn’t your deepest wish, in this case… well… go ahead! And I also promise you that none of these tools will give you the power to pop a cream puff out of the blue.

What you have to remember is to take action, you can waste your brains by overthinking (and I did… oh I did…) but you won’t get much, at some point you will HAVE TO act.
It’s so much easier to win the lottery by going out and buying a ticket, instead of laying on your bed waiting for the winning ticket to land on your nose, blown in the window by some lucky wind, don’t you think?

Plus, let me spend some time on the verb “to act” (I love myself some etymology, thanx): it’s connected to actions and to actors, it comes from a latin origin meaning a lots of things, among which “move” and similar verbs of motion stand out.
Strictly, 2010 meaning: do something, move yourself (body and brains) to do something, to change something!

Shall we link back to actors? They act, right? They move onstage, they say things, they do things, they are being “someone”. This leads me and you to another concept you need to remember: the comfort zone.

The comfort zone is another ever-present self-help concept, is that metaphorical place where you feel so safe surrounded by things you are so familiar with you don’t even notice anymore, it is that tiny voice inside your head saying “it’s better not to, sit back, have another cream puff”.
Do you remember the time you were afraid to jump on the rollercoaster? ’cause it’s scary the first time, isn’t it? But I bet you also remember getting off the rollercoaster jumping with excitement and saying all in once “letsdothatagain!!!”: this is “going out your comfort zone”.

Why don’t you try to act cool, even if you’re afraid? People say “fake it untill you make it”. Sometimes it is good to have a stage persona (we’ll discuss this another time, it’s another long one!), and if you think about it, we all do everyday, actually we all have more than one we use more times a day! Do you use the same jokes you use with your friends, when you’re with your mom? Do you smile the same way to teachers or collegues, as you smile with your beloved one?).

I feel like I’m writing this more as a “note to self”, something I need to remember… a year ago I was on my way to my Erasmus, second-guessing myself with thoughts like: “Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I shouldn’t be going, I want to go back home!”.
Do I need to tell you how I L O V E D those months abroad? And how I miss them? 😉

So now why don’t you think about it for a while? Try to figure out where the limits of your comfort zone are, and once you’ve found them try to look past them, and see all the additional fun you can have!