Being comfortable with the uncomfortable
November 10, 2016
If you want to excel to the next level, or succeed in your field, you must find a way to be comfortable with the uncomfortable.
It may not feel great in the moment, but some discomfort in your personal and professional career is a great way to foster personal development. If you are looking for a way to improve your performance, creativity, and overall learning, put yourself in a tough situation and don’t be afraid to feel uncomfortable. Try to do something that you originally thought you could never do. Explore the unknown, no matter how unclear the road may be ahead.
Hanging within the same routine, day in and day out, makes you feel as though you have complete control and while this may be true, it unintentionally dulls your sensitivities. According to Psychology Today, “If you’ve got a good routine set up–say a morning routine of breakfast-exercise-shower-dress-commute, you’ve freed yourself from a lot of small decisions that could slow you down or capture valuable brain-space that you’d prefer to use for something else. You can now go on autopilot and still accomplish your goals.” In this way, paradoxically, a good routine can be freeing. But alternatively, getting into this autopilot state can prevent you from getting out and doing something different. You may miss out on an experience that can change your life.
Some routines are great until they are basically obsolete. In The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loeher and Tony Schwartz, it is said that stress actually has vital role to play as a part of our growth as human beings.
“Any form of stress that prompts discomfort has the potential to expand capacity physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually so long as it is followed by adequate recovery”.
Think hard about your passions and how you could bring a unique perspective to that passion. What kind of skillset could you bring to the table that might set you apart? I think the need to get out of our comfort zone is even more true when you’re building a startup. Ben Yoskovitz puts this well:
“Don’t start a company as a tech person if all you want to do is code. If all you want to do is code, then get a job coding. Starting a company means doing a lot of things you’ve never done, and a lot of things you won’t be comfortable doing. Get used to it. Make the uncomfortable comfortable.”
You can also do this in your personal life and on a scale that fosters personal development. Let’s say, for instance, you are not comfortable speaking out in front of large crowds. By stepping out of your comfort zone and speaking to large crowds, or simply speaking out more in the next meeting, you can give yourself a massive amount of confidence in other areas of your life. This is why we should have many areas where we stretch ourselves and explore what is unknown. The more you stretch, the further you go.
So what are you doing to feel uncomfortable? What are you doing to get out of what you know and get comfortable with what may be uncomfortable? Send us what you are doing via Twitter or Facebook! We would love to hear how you get out of your comfort zone and the difference it has made in your business or life.
Written By: Austin Rains, Marketing Associate at Dayton Tech Guide
