Cue the Comeback: Next Steps for Educators
Growth doesn’t happen in the comfort zone. But it doesn’t happen in survival mode, either.
Authors like Dave Burgess and Adam Welcome are fond of saying that growth doesn’t happen in the comfort zone, and I completely agree. Growth of all kinds occurs when we are stretched, tested, nudged out of the comfortable and familiar and exposed to new information and challenges. This is true in all domains: physical, spiritual, intellectual, professional.
Carol Dweck’s Mindset is still my number one book recommendation for educators because of how profoundly she re-shaped my thinking in this area. It’s a framework that has encouraged me to enter unfamiliar spaces, like entering a Master’s program or starting a podcast, precisely because of how uncomfortable these activities were at first.
The initial discomfort of these and other experiences always confirms for me that I will grow. With repetitions and iterations come confidence and competence. Things can only get better from here can actually be a source of remarkable hope and inspiration.
It’s a powerful and potentially life-altering principle — this idea of leaning into discomfort with an eye to growth. And it applies to learners in all capacities and walks of life.
