Young people who break out of the comfort zone of the workplace, do you regret it?
After the post-95 girl Weiwei stepped into the workplace, every two years, she would rush out of her heart to change the track.
Every time I try to challenge myself, it seems to be "unlocking" more challenges, all the time.
"Comfort zone" usually refers to the psychological state and habitual behavior pattern exhibited by a person, and the person feels comfortable in this state or pattern.
In the workplace, the meaning of the word varies from person to person.
Some people think that the "comfort zone" is the arrival after going through thousands of mountains and rivers, that is, to finally obtain the ideal working state and inner balance; some people think that the word means a kind of restraint that must be broken free and left desperately.
What happened to those young people who stepped out of the "comfort zone"?
Comfort zone is not a pejorative, but a "sense of control"
"Since 2019, every day is a better day." On the 29th birthday, Ruosi posted this sentence in the circle of friends.
That year, she quit her job with an annual salary of one million yuan and began to follow what was meaningful in her eyes.
Because of his dependability, daring and vigor, the young Ruosi has won his place in the financial industry with experts like Lin.
However, after 5 years on the job, she tires of this radiant "comfort zone": more and more repetitive, unchallenged.
Ruo Si feels that his interest is not to calculate the rate of return every day, nor to calculate how much ahead of others in performance ranking.
"I have many pursuits other than money and position. I like to design handmade works, like to answer questions for my friends, and hope to realize some luminous little dreams."
Unlike Ruo Si, Wei Wei did not jump out of her comfort zone because of repetition and boredom.
After joining a cultural and creative company, she was in charge of channel communication. Her boss saw her potential and was transferred to the marketing department to be in charge of the brand.
After the same company "changed lanes", it has also done smooth sailing in the past two years.
Last year, the promotion opportunities coveted by colleagues were within reach, and Weiwei temporarily decided to accept an invitation from a friend and go out to start a business.
Colleagues all sighed that Weiwei had the courage to "rush out of the comfort zone".
But Weiwei felt that she had never really left her comfort zone.
"Whether I choose to change direction or try new things, every change that others seem to be bold is the result that I can hold after my evaluation, observation, summary, study, consultation and preparation."
Wang Bing, a doctor of mental health at Peking University, pointed out that many "successful learning" inspirational articles associate negative concepts such as "comfort zone" with "inert zone" and "boiled frog in warm water".
But in fact, the term "comfort zone" was not originally meant to be derogatory. It was manifested in a low anxiety and low pressure, people have a full sense of "control" over what they do.
Why do we feel the existence of a "comfort zone" in the workplace?
Wang Bing said that the generation of the comfort zone is related to the "comparison of challenge (or pressure) and ability".
When a person's ability is far greater than the challenge, he can get a greater return with less effort in a unit time, and then the person will feel very comfortable (or sense of control) psychologically.
However, there are two types of comfort zones in the workplace: "curling comfort zones" and "stretching comfort zones."
"Curled up comfort zone, like a baby in a swaddle, everything around is low challenge, familiar and certain, but in this case your so-called sense of control is actually false, you can't effectively deal with change and control the environment , your comfort comes from the comfort and stability of the environment; and the stretch comfort zone is the real freedom, you have the confidence to face various uncertain factors, where you can develop and realize yourself. Your comfort comes from Confidence in one's own abilities does not depend entirely on the outside world."
Wang Bing pointed out that the original environment of Weiwei and Ruosi belonged to a "stretch comfort zone", and they were both "people who get excited because of pressure", and this type of people is relatively easier and more willing to get out of the workplace comfort zone .
What should I do if I challenge new fields and encounter a "head hit"
What should I do if I break out of my comfort zone, challenge new fields, and encounter a "smashing blow"?
Weiwei has done copywriting work and participated in various activities, but she has never talked about business cooperation experience.
After joining a friend's startup team, her job title was Commercial Director, which meant starting from scratch.
At first, she was very motivated. "What you didn't know before can be learned slowly now!" But she soon realized that the market competition is fierce, and the whole team's expectation of her is not to "learn from scratch", but to bring the team quickly. income.
At the same time, Wei Wei not only has to achieve "immediate results", but also has to work hard to meet the needs of the rest of the team.
After struggling for half a year, Weiwei felt uneasy and finally chose to resign.
This experience of "flying out of the comfort zone" didn't turn out well, but Weiwei was not discouraged, "In the past six months, I will pay for my tuition and learn my skills."
Li Xiaoche, a 30-year-old boy this year, has worked in a state-owned enterprise for 10 years. He believes that he has "understood the attributes of the industry" and should "go to the outside world to take a look."
Li Xiaoche jumped to the Internet company, and immediately ushered in the severe test of the half-year normalization period.
"My former colleagues and friends all commented on me as a very talkative person and a social genius. Now that I am in an Internet company, I have become the least talkative person." The original discourse system, way of thinking, and philosophy of life... ... were all overthrown in the "Internet giants".
Half a year into the regular period, he was terrified.
After the anxiety, Li Xiaoche realized that the comfort zone that many people think is just good luck, which may not be equivalent to that you have the highest skills and level of the profession.
Maybe you didn't realize your full potential and found your flaws.
In Wang Bing's view, when we think about the "comfort" in the workplace, we must first consider the matching degree of our own abilities and challenges-is it your ability to cope with challenges with ease, or does the environment give you this illusion?
"Taking nature as an example, if I initially found my niche in a smaller ecological environment, I was able to occupy this niche because there were not so many species here, and the competition for survival was not so intense; but when I was transplanted to the competition In more intense or larger ecosystems, the challenges to be met and the ability output to match will be very different to successfully lock in a niche.”
Both Weiwei and Li Xiaoche encountered uncomfortable conditions after stepping out of their comfort zone.
But Wang Bing affirmed their positive attitude: "If you interpret 'discomfort' as failure, you will interpret this choice as a complete setback, and think that such a result can only prove yourself wrong, which is 'fixed' people with a growth mindset. But people with a 'growth mindset' see discomfort as an exercise, failure as feedback, and look for positive life experiences from negative experiences of failure. "
Wang Bing calls this the "stretch zone."
"When you are doing body stretching training, it is definitely not comfortable, but stretching will improve your flexibility, which is the same process as we deal with challenges, but also maintain awareness of the body (self-awareness), Be wary of sports injuries caused by overstretching."
Repetitions and bottlenecks, you can't escape either
Although the normalization period is full of unknowns, Li Xiaoche was not defeated, and relying on his own tenacity and perseverance, he successfully waited until the day of normalization.
"Maybe we leave one comfort zone in order to find another comfort zone." He said that even if we do not leave the current comfort zone, everyone can still explore new career possibilities through self-discipline and exploration.
After saying goodbye to the "work era", Ruosi started the entrepreneurial journey of online emotional courses.
"If you change to a new battlefield, you will not be able to escape the repetition and bottleneck of the experience, but the pain has changed to a new color and taste." Ruo Si said that in the first 4 months of "restarting" her career, her whole body In the excitement of "like being born again" and "growing at will".
But after half a year, the ship, which had been sailing with the wind, finally inevitably had to head against the wind.
A senior told her that since this "restart" is based on her own business plan, she must not be easily overthrown because of "feelings of chicken in one place" and boredom.
Ruosi herself has found that this is a "long-term comfort zone" that she wants to dig and cultivate deeply.
Wang Bing said that there is a concept in psychology called "flow experience", which means that when you do something, you seem to be completely involved, fully invested, forget the time, and forget where you are. place.
"When is the flow experience likely to occur? For example, if we try to pick a fruit hanging on a branch, if we can do it easily, we will not be very excited; when we reach it, we will have a great sense of accomplishment. . But if we can't reach it for a long time, it will be very frustrating."
The state of "trying hard to succeed" attracts us to devote ourselves to it.
But Wang Bing pointed out that this has also started a new cycle: when your ability continues to increase and becomes compatible with the challenge, you start to do it well, but in the next step, your ability may exceed the requirements of the position or what the position provides. Challenge, you will fall back into your comfort zone, and the sense of control may turn into boredom.
“From a growth perspective, getting out of your comfort zone is mainly about two things. The first is to complement your weaknesses; the second is to strengthen your strengths. The second is far more important than the first because stepping out of your comfort zone The area is to be a better self, and it is his unique value that defines a person, not a problem." Wang Bing believes that when we explore new frontiers and encounter negative emotions, we must have basic self-judgment, and Identify what the job means to you.
In Wang Bing's eyes, the relationship between adventure and comfort zone is not opposite.
Even if the job you do is the same, do it in a different way every day, or make your business level more sophisticated.
Stepping out of the comfort zone is a kind of growth. Staying in the comfort zone, we can also take risks and challenge ourselves. This is like the way some people exercise is a triathlon, and some people just go downstairs for a walk. The most important thing is to find the growth path that suits you.
"Many people's understanding of the comfort zone is to beat themselves with a whip, I don't agree. We do need to push ourselves from time to time, but if we keep walking forward with the whip, we don't find what we want to go. Places that don’t fit your strengths, passions, or dreams, not only are you not in your comfort zone, but you may be further and further away from where you really want to be.”
(At the request of the interviewee, Ruosi, Weiwei and Li Xiaoche are pseudonyms)
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Shen Jiequn Source: China Youth Daily
February 25, 2022 Version 07