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How My Experience As An TV Extra Challenged My Comfort Zone

Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone challenges your mind to create new neural pathways that unlock the most amazing experiences you can have.

I have countless memories of fondness that have come from being out of my comfort zone.

Is it challenging? Yes
Is it uncomfortable? Yes
Is it worth it? 100%

Challenging myself regularly to experience new experiences that face my fears has changed my life and being an extra for TV production is just that.

Since a young boy, I have had a love for film and TV and I could talk about it all day long. I have always wanted to have some part in a film or TV production but I never pursued it.

So as part of my creating discomfort journey, I signed up for extra work in the UK.

Months passed by then I got an email to be a part of big TV production for Amazon Studios. Without hesitation I accepted.

I would like to share with you why being an extra can challenge your mindset to improve as a person.

What I Learned About Being An Extra.

Making A Good First Impression Count A Lot

On my first day as an extra. My instincts of being an introvert were firing like you wouldn’t believe but I had to go against it on this occasion. Making a great first impression counts a lot. By introducing myself, formalising chit chat conversation and of course smiling and being open. Allowed me to quickly forge friendships.

I noticed others were like me introverts and chose the easier path and on the second day of shooting, I could see they were still alone. This could have been me if I listened to my fears. Luckily for them, I choose to go out of my way to build friendships with them. By the end of the week, they defiantly had a better experience.

Putting Yourself Forward Earns Respect

It could have been easy to put myself into the background and wait to be asked to do something. As this was an experience I wanted to remember I put myself forward and this allowed me to do fight scenes, be in the shots next to the actors and even get a chance to speak and ask questions to the lead actors. I was even asked to come back for further shoots because I stood out.

Now in the past, I have definitely shied away but when you face your fear of being uncomfortable amazing experiences can happen.

Being Open To Meeting All Types Of People

I think we all have friends we feel comfortable with and the chances of meeting new people can be hard. On an extra set, I interacted with all types of backgrounds and was enjoyable to learn about different cultures, peoples experiences and their personalities. It can be easy to just keep your social bubble small but opening it up to new faces can be the start of new and amazing friendships.

You Have To Practice Patience

On set, there is a lot of waiting around and learning the art of being patient is a crucial skill to learn. Refraining from moaning to stay positive throughout is a challenge. But being comfortable to be in your own head and staying positive is a skill well learned.

You Have To Be Adaptable

When you’re extra you could be doing something completely different or having to be put with people you don’t know. That’s why like in life you plan for change to happen. By being mentally prepared for change allows you to adapt quickly and lets the fear subside and not be as powerful as it could.

This is what I learned on set being an extra. I’m so glad I went out of my comfort zone by creating discomfort in my life.

I think I might just do it again or maybe next time be a production assistant or an assistant director.

Do you want to read more about my creating discomfort challenges? Click here to read more.

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How A Minimalist Mindset For Goal-Achieving Helps Avoid Distraction

Have you ever created a to-do list for your day that’s so long you never do it or planned multiple goals that pull you in all different directions? If you responded yes. Then this is the article for you.

When it comes to goal-achieving understanding the human brain is important. When the mind is at its best is when it’s singularly focused on one task. So when you have to focus on multiple goals you can end up falling short. Plus when you understand simple maths that when you concentrate on multiple goals you can only give a percentage of energy and time to it.

I too was this person having all the ideas and plans but never amounted to anything significant. The reason why is because I was overcrowding my mind with too much energy. Whist watching minimalist expert Matt De’Avella. It came to me that if I can make my goals and everyday tasks I do each day more minimalist. I could give it my full energy. Like anything in life when you keep it to its simplest form it normally has far-reaching results.

By the end of this article, you should be able to get all of the goals and things you want to do written down and then create a minimalist mindset for goal setting.

Why Minimalism Is Important For The Mind

The minimalist movement first started in the 1950s within the art world. It then expanded to homes and lifestyles. Where now it has become very popular with many youtube channels discussing the benefits of habits and productivity.

Studies have shown that when a human mind is cluttered full of thoughts and emotions it’s not very effective. That’s why journaling, forgiveness and gratitude exercises can be so effective at decluttering the mind.

For me when I have an untidy home or workspace I feel less likely to be productive but when I tidy up my mind feels focused and clear.

That’s why utilising the minimalist strategy to goal setting can help you become more productive and start to achieve your goals.

The most famous investor in the world Warren Buffet understands this approach. He uses the 5/25 rule. Where he writes down 25 goals he wants to achieve but then picks only 5 to focus on. This shows the importance of minimising your goals so you have enough mental capacity to focus on achieving your goals.

How To Create A Minimalist Mindset For Goal Achieving

Write Down Everything. The first task to find what goals and tasks you need to focus on are to have them all written down in front of you. I would get a fresh writing book and write down all your goals.

Bucket list
Career goals
Self-care goals
Skills you want to learn
Health goals
Relationship goals
Travel goals
Business ideas
Wealth goals

This is a great process to understand what you truly want out of life.

Create Your Headings. Once I have all my goals on paper I create the headings from the list above. This helps me to understand the areas of my life I want to focus on.

Pick 1 Goal For Each Heading. Now you have to ask your two questions.

What goal do I truly want to achieve?
What’s the timeframe to achieve this goal?

Both are important because one finds what you want to do and the other gives you focus and discipline to actually achieve the goal.

Get To work In Your Mind. Studies have shown that performing an action in real-time vs performing in my mind offers up similar results. By entering a meditation state of visualisation you can start to imagine the goal you want to achieve as already being done. As long as you believe it and feel it to be true your goal will be achieved.

This has worked countless times and you can see it in sport all the time. Richard Williams instilled this into his daughter’s mindset from an early age. His daughters were Venus and Serena Williams.

Daily To-Do List. When you’re setting up the daily goals you want to achieve all you have to is pick 1 goal that will help you achieve the overall goal you want to achive. Again just one. One is manageable, one is doable, one is motivating.

Minimalism Creates Productivity & Focus

By following the plan above. Achieving your goals will become the norm. The days of procrastination over what goal to do or perfectionism of not starting at all over the fear of not achieving any goal will start to decline rapidly.

You will have your mind back clear and focussed and back in the driving seat of goal achieving.

Final Note – When you achieve your main goals from your headings. Go back to your notebook and write all the other goals that you can add to your list and start the whole process again.