We always hear about comfort zone out there. Sometimes he wrinkles his nose a little, he thinks the expression is nothing more than a beautiful cliché. And it might even be. But nothing like a challenge or a sudden change to get you out of that zone and see that it really exists.
These transitions can be abrupt, planned, calm, difficult, but they can always play a key role in taking you to a different level of personal and professional development. But how do challenges humble you and help you develop?
One thing at a time.
1. How challenges make you more humble: Hidden lack of humility
When specializing in some area or acquiring certain knowledge about it, a subtle internal self-confidence hovers over us (natural, obviously, because you fought to get there). But the line between that confidence, a certain arrogance and laziness is very thin. And the most interesting thing about all of this is that none of this is apparent, not even pride, when it comes. It may be hidden in parts of the brain that are often unclear. By saying that it is not apparent, we mean that this lack of humility is not going around bragging about it, but just stopping developing because you already have control over the situation, a certain amount of control (did you see that there is such a comfort zone?) .
In this way, our actions tend to enter a more ‘zen’ mode. The search for really disruptive initiatives may decrease, a certain status quo may appear and we will no longer go so deep into real possibilities for change. And when does it start showing up? When you no longer seek benchmarking, when you don’t listen to company colleagues, when you no longer see motivation in what you do.
Unpleasant scenario for the professional and the company, right? Yes right!
But when a challenge comes along, certain things rattle you.
2. How challenges make you more humble: Opportunity for development
When a problem appears, a new process is implemented, you change areas or some clear change occurs in your daily work, some points that were clear until then are put to the test. And this can happen in many ways.
- You don’t have all the answers like you thought you did before
- The status quo is shaken
- Your ability to resolve past issues may not be of much use now.
- You need to listen to people.
- You need to break out of the bubble.
And then we come to the magic point of the question in the title of this post. All the questions above make you reflect, increase your inner humility and take advantage of the challenge that has appeared to develop.
YOU NEED TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY.
3. How Challenges Humble You: The Science of Your “Comfort Zone” and Why It’s So Hard to Leave It
Look what this Life Hacker article brings about the topic.
Simply put, your comfort zone is a behavioral space where your activities and behaviors find a routine and pattern that minimizes stress and risk. It provides a state of mental security. You benefit in obvious ways: normal happiness, lower anxiety, and reduced stress.
The idea of the comfort zone goes back to a classic experiment in psychology. Back in 1908, psychologists Robert M. Yerkes and John D. Dodson explained that a state of relative comfort created a constant level of performance. To maximize performance, however, we need a state of anxiety, a unique space where our stress levels are slightly higher than normal. This space is called “ideal anxiety,” and it’s just outside our comfort zone.
According to the study, too much anxiety and a high degree of stress make us stop having productive capacity, and our performance drops dramatically.
The idea of ideal anxiety is nothing new. Anyone who has ever pushed themselves to reach the next level or accomplish something great knows that when you really challenge yourself, you can generate amazing results. However, going too far with this, in an outsize way, can actually cause a negative result, and reinforce the idea that challenging yourself is a bad thing (your brain will retain this experience). Then our natural tendency to return to an anxiety-neutral, comfortable state will appear. You can understand why it’s so hard to push your brain outside of its comfort zone. But there are possibilities.
What do you get when you break free and try new things?
Ideal anxiety is that place where your productivity and mental performance peak. Still, “better performance” and “improved productivity” just sound like “do more stuff.” What is not true. What do you really gain when you’re willing to step outside your comfort zone?
You will be more productive . Comfort kills productivity because without the uncomfortable feeling that comes with having deadlines and expectations, we tend to switch off a bit and do the bare minimum necessary to survive. We lost the will and ambition to do more and learn new things. We also fall into a trap of always being busy (or pretending to be) as a way to stay in our comfort zones and avoid doing new things.
You will have an easier time dealing with new and unexpected changes . In this article in The New York Times , Brene Brown, a professor at the University of Houston, explains that one of the worst things we can do is pretend fear and uncertainty don’t exist. By taking controlled risks and challenging yourself to things you wouldn’t normally do, you can experience a sense of uncertainty, but within a manageable and controllable environment (what he means is that you can start with small steps, with calculated risks, experiments). You start to learn to live outside your control zone when you yourself initiate actions like that, experiences. This makes it easy for changes that you can’t even control.
It will be easier to raise your limit in the future. Once you start stepping out of your comfort zone, it gets easier with time. This same NYT article explains that as you step outside your comfort zone, you’ll get used to that ideal anxiety state. “Production Discomfort,” as they call it, becomes more normal for you, and you’re willing to push your limits before your performance starts to drop. In other words, you go further. This idea is well illustrated in the Future Science Leaders infographic .
You will find ways to harness your creativity . This is a very subtle benefit. But trying new things can make us reflect on our old ideas and where they clash with our new knowledge. This can generate inspiration to learn more and challenge well-established preconceptions, in addition to our tendency to seek information that we previously agreed with. Even in the short term, a positive uncomfortable experience can help us brainstorm, see old issues in a new light, and face the challenges we face with renewed energy.
