Try signing your name with the hand that you don’t normally use for writing. It is outside your comfort zone, and will no doubt feel uncomfortable. For most people, the results will leave much to be desired. If you practiced writing with this other hand every day for one month, would you get better? Likely. The initial difficulty would ease over time, until the discomfort was fully gone. The point is that with time and practice, discomfort usually decreases, and often disappears completely.
Discomfort leads to learning
Now consider this: all major changes in world history have occurred when people were no longer comfortable in their circumstances, and made a conscious decision to push beyond the present. They chose to take on discomfort because they believed that the eventual outcome would be better than where they currently were. I’ve always said:
“People only change when the pain of where they are becomes greater than the pain of where they might be.”
And I’ve even blogged about it in the past here: How can you get people to change before it becomes a crisis situation?
The reality is that all new learning occurs only when we push ourselves to the limit, when we go one step beyond our comfort zone. So let’s take that one step further. If you find yourself becoming too comfortable in what you do, is it possible that you have ceased learning? Perhaps it’s time to deliberately make yourself uncomfortable, to force yourself to take a step outside your comfort zone!
Do you agree with me? I’d love to know what you think of my perspective. Please share your thoughts by adding your comment below.