I stretched myself today. I gave a speech. I spoke out loud. I stood in front of people.
I got evaluated.
I had to document and support my points.
I had to abide by an outline.
I had to follow someone else’s rules.
I stepped out of my comfort zone. In each aspect, I stepped into discomfort. And I sharpened my speaking skills. I toughened myself around getting visible and getting feedback.
I know myself pretty well, and I’ll bet you know yourself too. You know what it looks like when you play it safe. You know what’s comfortable. You know your tendencies and patterns.
Are you playing it safe in your job search process? Or are you making dates with discomfort?
Stretching means reaching for what you want. Playing it safe can mean settling for what’s mediocre or worse than that.
If you scheduled just one date with discomfort today, what might you do differently? How might you step out of the safe zone? How might you stretch yourself or simply do something new and out of your norm?
It could be a networking date. It could be talking about yourself. It could be getting feedback from someone about one of your interview responses or your resume.
Making a date with discomfort is a practice that is serving me. I’m confident it can serve you too.