Why We All Need a Mental Jungle Gym

We’ve all had those projects that fill you with dread and nerves before they’ve even started. Your voice inside is saying I can’t do this. How did I get this role/project when I know I can’t do it.

We want to be in our comfort zones, that safe, predictable place where we can work, hang out, and even snuggle up in. While we love our comfort zones, if we continue to stay there, we will hit a limit in how much we can learn.

The most dramatic learning and growing often happen when we step outside of that comfort zone.

I became self-employed almost three years ago, and in doing so, I quickly learned that I had to also be self-motivated to learn. I didn’t have a boss to keep me on track with my long term goals or push me to learn something new, I was going to have to do that myself.

The projects that have taught me the most are often the ones that made me feel the most uncomfortable, even anxious. I’ve hated the lead up to projects when I know that I’m going to be uncomfortable, whether it’s because I’m in a new kind of role or different environment.

But there’s a funny correlation I found between being uncomfortable and the post-project payoff.

My anxiety was high, but so was the emotional payoff. Maybe it’s the pride in learning that I could do something that I didn’t think I could 100% do before. Or it also could be the rush of relief that I made it to the other side.