self-improvement
Why I Am Glad My First Boss Gave Me A Role I Was Uncomfortable In
The power of stepping beyond your comfort zone
Stepping out of your comfort zone can be terrifying.
We like our comfort zones. We are successful and safe within them. But if we want to grow and achieve bigger things we need to step outside of them.
I learned this when I was 17. I was shy and I don’t mean a little shy I mean I literally never spoke to anyone new. It took me weeks to speak to colleagues at my new job.
I had only started this job because I dropped out of college. This was in no small part because I went to one further away from home where I didn’t know anyone.
My manager at the time noticed this and noticed that I also hated failing at anything. He noticed that with other tasks that did not require interacting with people, I could succeed even when it was new. So he took a gamble on me and put me on the reception desk 3 days a week.
At first, this was terrifying. I had a script I could use for common questions and a set greeting for when people came in the door. For the first few days or even weeks, I must have come across as very robotic. I can have a very monotone voice as it is, but reading from a script…
