5 Reasons to Scare Yourself: Cristina Sigurdson

So hello Styled and Organized Tribe!  I hope you enjoy my stories of bravery in spite of fear!  Be sure to check back next week as Joy Weber wraps up this series.

Adrenaline is the New Yoga

When I turned 24 I started my journey of learning to let go.  I happened to be in Hawaii so I thought, what better place and way to learn this lesson than to go skydiving!  The morning of my birthday I was terrified!  After watching the sobering video, signing the waivers and climbing into the tiny plane I didn’t trust to get off the ground, we were approaching 13,000 feet but my stomach was still on the ground.  I was the first tandem person to go and I wanted to back out but I knew I couldn’t.  Once at the door, I got the sign and hurled my body outside the moving plane.  From the second I was free-falling I was in complete bliss and had never felt so free!  When we hit the ground I was still flying sky high and I knew that if I could let go and trust jumping out of a plane, I could let go in other areas of my life that were no longer serving me.

When You Make a Scary Leap, You Just Might Fly

About 10 months after jumping out of that plane in Hawaii, I got the courage to leave a long term relationship. I knew I had to leave years before I actually left but I stayed for fear of not finding someone else.  Leaving meant taking a chance and trusting something better was meant for me even if that meant me on my own.  Fast-forward a few years to today and I’m married to a person so kind, thoughtful, genuine and handsome I have to pinch myself when I look at the wedding ring on my finger.  Taking that scary leap and leaving lead me to my true love and my future!

Fear Teaches Focus

Before joining SO, I was in industrial sales and I helped companies implement lean principles in their manufacturing operations.  Having started with no knowledge of industrial supplies and right after the oil market crashed in 2015, to say I struggled would be like calling Hurricane Katrina a rainstorm.  I was afraid I’d lose my job if my numbers didn’t improve when both my counterparts in Dallas left the company.  I volunteered to move at my own expense and agreed if my numbers didn’t improve within 6 months I’d leave the company.  Finding myself in a new city where I had no family, no friends and I was on the chopping block at work, there was no time to listen to my fear or doubt, only to focus. Within 3 months I was exceeding my numbers, within 6, I was a top performer and for 2 years straight I was 1 of the top 3 reps in my position until leaving the company.  I got to go on award trips, exceeded my earning goals and got a call from the CEO when I sold the largest deal in company history within a premier product group.  My fear fueled my focus and kept me at the top.

Your Example Could Inspire

I have wanted to run a half marathon for about 5 years but a back injury prevented me from achieving this for most of those years. In 2018 I finally found a physical therapist who resolved my injury.  So when my good friends invited me to train for a half marathon in Maui I signed up knowing the trip would motivate me to complete the training when it got hard.  Boy did it ever get hard getting up at 6 am on Sunday to run before it hit triple digits! My training inspired my husband to join me and train for the 10k!  We leave tomorrow so wish us luck!!

You’ll Be Proud of Yourself

While at the awards trip I’d worked so hard to earn, a nagging feeling that I was meant for more grew from a dull ache to a piercing throb.  I’d learned so much and achieved numerous personal goals and for that I was grateful, but on that trip, I remember the moment I knew I had to leave, the moment I realized I was in the wrong room.  After a lot of soul searching, I decided to take a chance and pursue my passion for organizing.  I am so incredibly proud of that decision every time I make a difference in a client’s life.

When you boil it down, fear is just discomfort.  I truly believe that life happens outside your comfort zone and pushing through the fear to pursue your best life is so worth the discomfort.