The Comfort Trap
If every day at work feels routine, you're stuck in the comfort zone. Here are three reasons why it's time to take action.
1) Stress Builds Strength
In the 1990s, researchers built an enclosed ecological facility called Biosphere 2 to simulate Earth's environment. Within this controlled environment, researchers noticed an unexpected phenomenon: trees grew quickly but would eventually fall over before maturing.
The reason? The absence of wind.
Wind causes trees to sway, triggering the growth of deep roots and sturdy trunks to withstand the stress. Without stress, the trees were weak.
Similarly, staying in your comfort zone minimizes stress but stifles your growth. Stress and challenges, when managed well, build strength.
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
- Marcus Aurelius
To explore more on this topic, I highly recommend Ryan Holiday's book "The Obstacle Is the Way".
Ryan Holiday
2) Poor Job Satisfaction In Comfort Zone
Think of how excited you felt when solving a difficult task or learning new skills at work. In contrast, staying in the comfort zone leads to feeling stagnant and dissatisfied in your role. It's no surprise that research shows a strong link between developing competency and job satisfaction.
I recently spoke with Dr. Terry Li, an assistant professor at Max Rady College of Medicine, regarding job satisfaction. Dr. Li pointed out that while many employers address employees' mental health issues (such as mental health days), this approach is akin to offering band-aids without addressing the root cause. By empowering employees to grow, employers can improve workers' job satisfaction, making them more resilient to mental health issues such as burnout.
Unfortunately, many workplaces don't have systems in place to continually empower their workers' growth. You have to find opportunities for growth yourself, but you won't find any by staying in the comfort zone.
3) Build Your Dream Job
People don't just find their dream job, they build it by becoming exceptional at what they do.
It's a simple supply and demand: more rare and valuable your skills are, the more employers are willing to pay (in the form of income, working conditions, autonomy, etc).
Comfort zone ➡️ minimal growth ➡️ poor job satisfaction ❌
"Learning zone" ➡️ growth ➡️ build your dream job ✔️
Last year, I pivoted my optometry career to exclusively locum work. I don't just want to be exceptional at my role, I want to be different from others (hence, multiple provincial licenses). Prioritizing continued growth has increased my job satisfaction, renewed passion for work, and helped to build my dream job.
To read more about the dangers of comfort, check out Michael Easter's excellent book "The Comfort Crisis":
Michael Easter
Do you feel like there's a big gap between your ideal and current life? That's how I felt for years until I took action. Since leaving my full-time job, I've built a career I feel deeply passionate about, made more time for my loved ones, and began pursuing passion projects (like this blog!).
I created a practical guide filled with actionable, research-backed ideas to help you build the life you want – many of which helped me on my own journey.
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