Deniz Kayadelen knows all about leaving her comfort zone and testing her limits. As a world record holder and extreme swimmer, she does this again and again in an impressive way. She is also a business psychologist, ICF-certified coach and founder of her company “Out of Comfort Zone”.

With a Master’s degree in Business Psychology and over 12 years of experience as a consultant in talent management and potential development, Deniz Kayadelen brings extensive expertise to the table. At the same time, she has been active as an extreme swimmer for more than 20 years and has received numerous national and international awards as a swimming champion.

Her most recent successes include the world record for the highest swim on earth, which she set together with the Madswimmers team at an altitude of 6,405 meters in the Himalayas. She achieved this feat at a water temperature of 3.7°C and an outside temperature of -6°C, clad only in a swimsuit. A year earlier, she crossed the English Channel alone in 15 hours and 8 minutes at a water temperature of 16°C. Deniz Kayadelen is a five-time world champion ice swimmer and swam as part of a relay team from Robben Island to Cape Town in 12°C water populated by great white sharks and poisonous jellyfish.

Deniz Kayadelen Speaking Topics

• Going out of your comfort zone – Unleash your potential
• Resilience, Mindfulness & Creating a Positive Mindset
• Go for Gold: Limits exist only in the mind
• How to Increase Your Resilience
• How to Increase Your Endurance
• Fear is Your Best Friend
• How to Transform Pain into Creative Energy
• How to Activate the Growth Mindset
• Change Management and Transformation
• Human Psychology and Growth
• Future Talent Management
• Effective Change Management
• Intercultural Competencies and Future Skills

Get out of your comfort zone – Unleash your potential

Most of the time, we find ease in our comfort zones. However, upon self-reflection, consider in which situations you truly unlock your potential and experience significant growth. Is it within the familiar comfort zone, or does it occur beyond its boundaries?

Within the comfort zone, we naturally feel secure and self-assured. We know how to navigate, think critically, and challenge ourselves. Dealing with routine challenges becomes second nature. Yet, stepping beyond the comfort zone leads us into uncharted territory—an unfamiliar realm where confidence wavers, vulnerability surfaces, and concerns about others’ perceptions intensify. There is a heightened fear of potential loss or non-acceptance compared to the sense of security within the comfort zone.

However, once you transcend this fear zone and adapt to new challenges, the learning curve becomes steep. The lessons gleaned from going beyond the comfort zone surpass those acquired within it. The more you learn, the more you grow, expanding the limits of your comfort zone and unlocking the potential to create your own magic.

Fear is your best friend

Can you envision a life without fear? What heights could you reach, and what accomplishments might you attain? While fear may be considered as an adversary, we can view it from a different perspective: as our best friend. It serves as the gateway to self-improvement and unlocking your potential, revealing the aspirations you yearn to achieve but are not yet ready for. Essentially, it signifies a gap between your present and future self.

As you minimize and learn to overcome fear, you find yourself squarely in your growth zone and can accomplish significant goals in your life. In this space, your potential becomes limitless.

How to Transform Pain into Creative Energy

We all aspire to find happiness in our lives, yet the harsh reality is that we inevitably encounter pain. The question then becomes: How do we transmute this energy into a creative one? During the pandemic, Deniz Kayadelen faced a profound loss – her father passed away, and grief consumed her. She stood before a choice: she could either stop her life or channel this pain into something positive, going for her passion. So, every day, she went to the freezing lake to swim. This decision propelled her swimming career to new heights as she ventured into the icy waters. Unexpectedly, she participated in the World Championship, winning the world champion title.

When dealing with pain, consider how to transform that energy into a force propelling you toward your passions and enhancing your overall well-being. The better you feel, the more equipped you are to contribute positively to your surroundings. Recognize that every experience, even pain, holds a purpose. Embrace it, overcome it, and emerge stronger than ever before.

How to Increase Your Endurance

The real competition, or the real game, starts when you feel tired; this is a lesson Deniz Kayadelen has learned throughout her life. The same is true in sports or corporate life. The strong one wins at the end of the game. Getting tired is entirely normal; we are all human beings. The question is: how do you deal with this feeling and push your limits despite hurdles? No matter how tired you are, there is always a hidden power in you to continue even more strongly in the last meters of your challenge. And this is the secret key that can take you to greatness.

How to Activate the Growth Mindset

Some words from Deniz Kayadelen about the growth mindset: “Let me tell you something about the growth mindset with this example: In every training session, I want to be better and beat my own best time. I want to achieve better results all the time. That’s the main aim of my training. I want to improve my technique, mindset, time, and endurance. That’s the goal of training. I don’t compete primarily with others; I compete with myself. My training efforts give me a growth mindset to be better. I know what I could do in the past, but I don’t know what I am capable of in the future. That means that I can do so much more. Based on my goals, I try to improve personally, break my limits, and demonstrate a growth mindset.”

These elements can also be transferred to corporate life, and you can learn how to exceed your limits in a working context.

The power of transformation

Deniz Kayadelenexcels at pushing beyond limits and helping others do the same. She is dedicated to supporting individuals and organizations on their transformation journeys to unleash hidden potential. Recognized as an inspirational speaker, she was named one of the Top 10 Most Influential Women of 2023 by NYC Journal and she has spoken at TEDx and the Superwoman Summit of Forbes.

She believes in the power of transformation by stepping out of one’s comfort zone and embodies the principles she advocates. Her knowledge is built on life experience, overcoming extreme challenges, confronting fear and pain, and becoming a top-peak performance athlete. Additionally, her psychological background provides a scientific understanding of her experiences, making her an exceptional inspirational speaker.

Deniz Kayadelen is fluent in English, German, and Turkish.