Write an expository essay about the benefits people receive when they push beyond their comfort zones. Your expository essay must be based on this prompt and topic, and it must incorporate ideas and information found in the sources provided.
Use your best writing to complete an essay that
- is focused on your central idea;
- combines evidence from multiple sources with your own elaboration to develop your ideas;
- is organized and includes transitions within and among ideas;
- provides citations for quoted material and source ideas; and
- demonstrates correct use of grammar and language appropriate to the task.
Write your multiparagraph essay to an academic audience in the space provided.
Source 1: Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)
by Alina Tugend
1 Last week, I moved out of my comfort zone, psychologically and literally. And it didn’t feel so good.
2 First, I spoke to a group of middle-school students about journalism. It was a day when parents were supposed to come and talk about their work and discuss why what you learned in middle school was actually important in real life.
3 I am fairly self-confident about talking to a roomful of adults. But 12- and 13-year-old children made me sweat. Some looked at me intently, but others stared out the window, played with their pencils or poked their neighbors. Suddenly, I was pulled back to my middle-school years, trying to entertain the “popular” kids. I was most uncomfortable.
4 A few days later, we had some workers in to paint a few rooms in the house. No big deal, I thought. Except that as more rooms were draped in drop cloths and living room furniture crowded the dining room, our entire family – and two befuddled cats – retreated upstairs.
5 No one could find anything. Everyone was out of sorts. We were feeling decidedly uncomfortable.
6 Moving out of our comfort zones is supposed to be a good thing. We challenge ourselves, we grow and take on new risks. But is this always true?…
7 [A]s Judith M. Bardwick, author of “Danger in the Comfort Zone” (American Management Association, 1991), writes, “The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral position…”
8 “We need a place of productive discomfort,” said Daniel H. Pink, author of “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” (Riverhead, 2009). “If you’re too comfortable, you’re not productive. And if you’re too uncomfortable, you’re not productive. Like Goldilocks, we can’t be too hot or too cold.”
9 The objective is to reach that optimal level so that our skills increase and we become comfortable with that new level of anxiety – then we’re in an expanded comfort zone. And ideally, we will get more used to those feelings of “productive discomfort” and won’t be so scared to try new things in the future….
10 Choosing to leave our comfort zones is hard enough. But being forced out is even more difficult…. How do we cope with that? A.J. Schuler, a business consultant who has written about resistance to change, advised finding a core group of people – just two or three was enough – who would listen and understand how difficult this was.
11 “I call that personal life board, like a board of directors,” he said. “You need to obtain prior permission to just talk.”
12 The advice on accepting change is pretty obvious, but difficult to carry out, he said, so “you can get down on yourself because you see yourself as stagnant. You need people who won’t get frustrated with that.”…
13 As parents, we can help our children grow into adults who feel more secure about leaving their comfort zones, Mr. Pink said, by resisting the urge to always shield them from uncertainty and discomfort. “If we do that, they can’t be productive,” he said….
14 So being slightly uncomfortable, whether or not by choice, can push us to achieve goals we never thought we could. But it’s important to remember that we don’t need to challenge ourselves and be productive all the time. It’s good to step out of our comfort zone. But it’s also good to be able to go back in.
Excerpt from “Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)” by Alina Tugend. Copyright © 2011 by the New York Times. Reprinted by permission of the New York Times via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 2: Why Feeling Uncomfortable Is the Key to Success
by Sujan Patel
15 While it may not feel like it in the moment, a little bit of discomfort goes a long way in terms of personal development. Sure, no one likes feeling uncomfortable, but it’s a big part of improving your performance, creativity and learning in the long run.
16 Routines may make you feel at ease and in control, but what a constant routine really does is dull your sensitivities. Think about the times in your life when you’ve driven the same route repeatedly: after a certain number of trips, you start turning out most of it. Have you ever had a trip… where you barely remember what happened after you got in the car?
17 If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, you might find yourself tuning out much of your life on a daily basis.
18 But when you go out of your way to experience new things, or when you let new things happen to you, your body creates brand new neural pathways that fuel your creative spark and enhance your memory.
19 In one study, researchers tested the memory of participants by showing them images which were rated as novel, familiar, and very familiar. The best results came when people were shown a novel image, followed by a familiar one. So, while repetition helps with memory, mixing in new information is important as well.
20 That’s why being uncomfortable is something you should embrace. Putting yourself in new and unfamiliar situations triggers a unique part of the brain that releases dopamine, nature’s make-you-happy chemical. Here’s the mind-blower; that unique region of the brain is only activated when you see or experience completely new things.
21 Few people actually enjoy the feeling of being uncomfortable. The challenge is to get past that initial feeling of wanting to return to the norm, so you can grow and benefit from that discomfort….
22 It might be completely evident to you what the source of your discomfort is. What you may not be able to immediately recognize is why you’re feeling the way you are. What is it about the situation that’s triggering the feelings? Are you terrified of rejection….? Are you embarrassed about being on camera….? [A]re [you] suffering from imposter syndrome?[1]
23 In his book Linchpin: Are you Indispensable, Seth Godin wrote, “Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you’re doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they’re hiding out in the comfortable zone ….”
24 Think about another time when something you did brought up similar feelings of discomfort. How did that play out for you? This is your opportunity to celebrate the small wins you previously had, and remind yourself of the growth that came from a previously uncomfortable situation.
25 At the same time, think about those situations where similar feelings and actions led to what you might deem as a failure. As Dr. Martin Seligman, founder of Positive Psychology, once said, “It’s not our failures that determine our future success, but how we explain it to ourselves.”
26 “I’ve never heard a millionaire entrepreneur say they hit it right the first time out,” says Steve Siebold, whose book How Rich People Think, is a culmination of 30 years of interviews. “The bigger they are, the more they’ve typically failed.”
27 And they use what they learn from those failures to counter discomfort, move forward, and finally take the plunge, despite feelings of uncertainty and doubt. Failure is an asset – and you should learn to see it that way…. As long as you’re learning from your mistakes, then you become more valuable with each and every misstep….
28 Of course, not all discomfort serves a positive purpose or will contribute to your growth…. You have to be selective about how, when, and why you’re embracing the discomfort of a given situation and how it can benefit you. Ultimately, you have to find the courage, awareness, and understanding that allow you to see problems and hurdles for what they really are: opportunities to grow and learn.
Excerpt from “Why Feeling Uncomfortable is the Key to Success” by Sujan Patel. Copyright © 2016 by Forbes. Reprinted by permission of Forbes via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 3: Expanding the Comfort Zone
by Kelly West
29 When I was in high school, I came home and told my parents some startling news.
30 I was going to perform a slam poem at the student talent show.
31 My mom and dad looked up from their work with bemusement. They wanted to know if I was OK.
32 I’d always been active. I lived to play sports. But despite my success with playing competitive sports, I never thought the stage was a place for me.
33 It definitely would be outside of my comfort zone to share my creative work in front of my peers. But something inside me said why not try it out.
34 For years, researchers and scientists have studied what happens when people venture beyond their area of comfort and have found some interesting results. A simple decision to try something as new as performing a slam poem could have significant benefits.
35 In fact, research suggests that switching things up by either dealing with a little uncertainty or facing a new challenge can promote learning. One experiment with primates actually showed that when animals could predict the kinds of treats scientists would offer them, the part of their brain that is involved with learning was deactivated. This result could be similar in humans. For example, if you studied your multiplication tables year after year in school, you’d probably feel quite comfortable with that skill and stop needing to exhaust the parts of your brain that help you incorporate new knowledge every time multiplication is necessary to complete a problem.
36 A certain amount of unpredictability allows the regions of the brain that promote new learning to stay active. We can promote this learning and stay out of our comfort zone in simple ways: i.e, changing up a daily routine, having conversations with new and different people, engaging with a new project, or reading about new ideas. All of these things keep things new enough to promote learning and keep us from falling into the trap of sameness.
37 In addition to learning, scientists say that stepping outside of your comfort zone gives you a prime opportunity to see how you respond to new challenges. It may also uncover a new skill or a new interest. For example, after practicing my slam poem in front of parents, friends, and the mirror, I learned that I was a natural at connecting to an audience. I also realized that when I found it hard to remember lines from my poem, all I wanted to do was text my friends…
38 With all this talk of comfort, one might think that growth has to be painful. In fact, some people like to say “no pain, no gain,” which is the idea that you cannot grow without experiencing a lot of discomfort. However, psychologists and researchers actually say that having “manageable challenges” helps you to grow more effectively. For me, dealing with my state fright was a manageable challenge because I already had established a lot of the skills I would need to perform. (For example, presentation skills and the ability to accept criticism.)
39 However, this does not negate the fact that, sometimes, facing new challenges may be a little uncomfortable. Thankfully, research shows that the side effect of encountering discomfort is that individuals are more likely to seek help and social support. In addition, venturing away from what we are used to teaches us how to cope with stressful situations, increases empathy, and prompts us to strengthen close relationships.
40 Although we need to expand our comfort zones in order to grow, it’s important to note that many scientists say that our comfort zones are there for a reason. We wouldn’t be able to get some of our basic, everyday tasks done if we were always uncomfortable. Our comfort zones also give us a set of skills we can work with, ways we can cope with stress, and ways to regain confidence when we are struggling. When preparing to perform my poem felt overwhelming, I was glad to have the distraction of scoring points with my teammates on the field to reinforce my confidence.
41 Our comfort zones are places where we can relax and recharge, and where we live most of our lives. But as we face and overcome new challenges, those zones of comfort get larger, our personal toolkits get more advanced, and we can do more.
42 It can be easy to fall into a daily pattern – a zone of comfort – but after performing my poem, I could tell that my comfort zone had gotten much larger.
[1] imposter syndrome: a situation in which people with legitimate achievements doubt their accomplishmentsWrite an expository essay about the benefits people receive when they push beyond their comfort zones. Your expository essay must be based on this prompt and topic, and it must incorporate ideas and information found in the sources provided.
Use your best writing to complete an essay that
- is focused on your central idea;
- combines evidence from multiple sources with your own elaboration to develop your ideas;
- is organized and includes transitions within and among ideas;
- provides citations for quoted material and source ideas; and
- demonstrates correct use of grammar and language appropriate to the task.
Write your multiparagraph essay to an academic audience in the space provided.
Source 1: Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)
by Alina Tugend
1 Last week, I moved out of my comfort zone, psychologically and literally. And it didn’t feel so good.
2 First, I spoke to a group of middle-school students about journalism. It was a day when parents were supposed to come and talk about their work and discuss why what you learned in middle school was actually important in real life.
3 I am fairly self-confident about talking to a roomful of adults. But 12- and 13-year-old children made me sweat. Some looked at me intently, but others stared out the window, played with their pencils or poked their neighbors. Suddenly, I was pulled back to my middle-school years, trying to entertain the “popular” kids. I was most uncomfortable.
4 A few days later, we had some workers in to paint a few rooms in the house. No big deal, I thought. Except that as more rooms were draped in drop cloths and living room furniture crowded the dining room, our entire family – and two befuddled cats – retreated upstairs.
5 No one could find anything. Everyone was out of sorts. We were feeling decidedly uncomfortable.
6 Moving out of our comfort zones is supposed to be a good thing. We challenge ourselves, we grow and take on new risks. But is this always true?…
7 [A]s Judith M. Bardwick, author of “Danger in the Comfort Zone” (American Management Association, 1991), writes, “The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral position…”
8 “We need a place of productive discomfort,” said Daniel H. Pink, author of “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” (Riverhead, 2009). “If you’re too comfortable, you’re not productive. And if you’re too uncomfortable, you’re not productive. Like Goldilocks, we can’t be too hot or too cold.”
9 The objective is to reach that optimal level so that our skills increase and we become comfortable with that new level of anxiety – then we’re in an expanded comfort zone. And ideally, we will get more used to those feelings of “productive discomfort” and won’t be so scared to try new things in the future….
10 Choosing to leave our comfort zones is hard enough. But being forced out is even more difficult…. How do we cope with that? A.J. Schuler, a business consultant who has written about resistance to change, advised finding a core group of people – just two or three was enough – who would listen and understand how difficult this was.
11 “I call that personal life board, like a board of directors,” he said. “You need to obtain prior permission to just talk.”
12 The advice on accepting change is pretty obvious, but difficult to carry out, he said, so “you can get down on yourself because you see yourself as stagnant. You need people who won’t get frustrated with that.”…
13 As parents, we can help our children grow into adults who feel more secure about leaving their comfort zones, Mr. Pink said, by resisting the urge to always shield them from uncertainty and discomfort. “If we do that, they can’t be productive,” he said….
14 So being slightly uncomfortable, whether or not by choice, can push us to achieve goals we never thought we could. But it’s important to remember that we don’t need to challenge ourselves and be productive all the time. It’s good to step out of our comfort zone. But it’s also good to be able to go back in.
Excerpt from “Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)” by Alina Tugend. Copyright © 2011 by the New York Times. Reprinted by permission of the New York Times via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 2: Why Feeling Uncomfortable Is the Key to Success
by Sujan Patel
15 While it may not feel like it in the moment, a little bit of discomfort goes a long way in terms of personal development. Sure, no one likes feeling uncomfortable, but it’s a big part of improving your performance, creativity and learning in the long run.
16 Routines may make you feel at ease and in control, but what a constant routine really does is dull your sensitivities. Think about the times in your life when you’ve driven the same route repeatedly: after a certain number of trips, you start turning out most of it. Have you ever had a trip… where you barely remember what happened after you got in the car?
17 If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, you might find yourself tuning out much of your life on a daily basis.
18 But when you go out of your way to experience new things, or when you let new things happen to you, your body creates brand new neural pathways that fuel your creative spark and enhance your memory.
19 In one study, researchers tested the memory of participants by showing them images which were rated as novel, familiar, and very familiar. The best results came when people were shown a novel image, followed by a familiar one. So, while repetition helps with memory, mixing in new information is important as well.
20 That’s why being uncomfortable is something you should embrace. Putting yourself in new and unfamiliar situations triggers a unique part of the brain that releases dopamine, nature’s make-you-happy chemical. Here’s the mind-blower; that unique region of the brain is only activated when you see or experience completely new things.
21 Few people actually enjoy the feeling of being uncomfortable. The challenge is to get past that initial feeling of wanting to return to the norm, so you can grow and benefit from that discomfort….
22 It might be completely evident to you what the source of your discomfort is. What you may not be able to immediately recognize is why you’re feeling the way you are. What is it about the situation that’s triggering the feelings? Are you terrified of rejection….? Are you embarrassed about being on camera….? [A]re [you] suffering from imposter syndrome?[1]
23 In his book Linchpin: Are you Indispensable, Seth Godin wrote, “Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you’re doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they’re hiding out in the comfortable zone ….”
24 Think about another time when something you did brought up similar feelings of discomfort. How did that play out for you? This is your opportunity to celebrate the small wins you previously had, and remind yourself of the growth that came from a previously uncomfortable situation.
25 At the same time, think about those situations where similar feelings and actions led to what you might deem as a failure. As Dr. Martin Seligman, founder of Positive Psychology, once said, “It’s not our failures that determine our future success, but how we explain it to ourselves.”
26 “I’ve never heard a millionaire entrepreneur say they hit it right the first time out,” says Steve Siebold, whose book How Rich People Think, is a culmination of 30 years of interviews. “The bigger they are, the more they’ve typically failed.”
27 And they use what they learn from those failures to counter discomfort, move forward, and finally take the plunge, despite feelings of uncertainty and doubt. Failure is an asset – and you should learn to see it that way…. As long as you’re learning from your mistakes, then you become more valuable with each and every misstep….
28 Of course, not all discomfort serves a positive purpose or will contribute to your growth…. You have to be selective about how, when, and why you’re embracing the discomfort of a given situation and how it can benefit you. Ultimately, you have to find the courage, awareness, and understanding that allow you to see problems and hurdles for what they really are: opportunities to grow and learn.
Excerpt from “Why Feeling Uncomfortable is the Key to Success” by Sujan Patel. Copyright © 2016 by Forbes. Reprinted by permission of Forbes via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 3: Expanding the Comfort Zone
by Kelly West
29 When I was in high school, I came home and told my parents some startling news.
30 I was going to perform a slam poem at the student talent show.
31 My mom and dad looked up from their work with bemusement. They wanted to know if I was OK.
32 I’d always been active. I lived to play sports. But despite my success with playing competitive sports, I never thought the stage was a place for me.
33 It definitely would be outside of my comfort zone to share my creative work in front of my peers. But something inside me said why not try it out.
34 For years, researchers and scientists have studied what happens when people venture beyond their area of comfort and have found some interesting results. A simple decision to try something as new as performing a slam poem could have significant benefits.
35 In fact, research suggests that switching things up by either dealing with a little uncertainty or facing a new challenge can promote learning. One experiment with primates actually showed that when animals could predict the kinds of treats scientists would offer them, the part of their brain that is involved with learning was deactivated. This result could be similar in humans. For example, if you studied your multiplication tables year after year in school, you’d probably feel quite comfortable with that skill and stop needing to exhaust the parts of your brain that help you incorporate new knowledge every time multiplication is necessary to complete a problem.
36 A certain amount of unpredictability allows the regions of the brain that promote new learning to stay active. We can promote this learning and stay out of our comfort zone in simple ways: i.e, changing up a daily routine, having conversations with new and different people, engaging with a new project, or reading about new ideas. All of these things keep things new enough to promote learning and keep us from falling into the trap of sameness.
37 In addition to learning, scientists say that stepping outside of your comfort zone gives you a prime opportunity to see how you respond to new challenges. It may also uncover a new skill or a new interest. For example, after practicing my slam poem in front of parents, friends, and the mirror, I learned that I was a natural at connecting to an audience. I also realized that when I found it hard to remember lines from my poem, all I wanted to do was text my friends…
38 With all this talk of comfort, one might think that growth has to be painful. In fact, some people like to say “no pain, no gain,” which is the idea that you cannot grow without experiencing a lot of discomfort. However, psychologists and researchers actually say that having “manageable challenges” helps you to grow more effectively. For me, dealing with my state fright was a manageable challenge because I already had established a lot of the skills I would need to perform. (For example, presentation skills and the ability to accept criticism.)
39 However, this does not negate the fact that, sometimes, facing new challenges may be a little uncomfortable. Thankfully, research shows that the side effect of encountering discomfort is that individuals are more likely to seek help and social support. In addition, venturing away from what we are used to teaches us how to cope with stressful situations, increases empathy, and prompts us to strengthen close relationships.
40 Although we need to expand our comfort zones in order to grow, it’s important to note that many scientists say that our comfort zones are there for a reason. We wouldn’t be able to get some of our basic, everyday tasks done if we were always uncomfortable. Our comfort zones also give us a set of skills we can work with, ways we can cope with stress, and ways to regain confidence when we are struggling. When preparing to perform my poem felt overwhelming, I was glad to have the distraction of scoring points with my teammates on the field to reinforce my confidence.
41 Our comfort zones are places where we can relax and recharge, and where we live most of our lives. But as we face and overcome new challenges, those zones of comfort get larger, our personal toolkits get more advanced, and we can do more.
42 It can be easy to fall into a daily pattern – a zone of comfort – but after performing my poem, I could tell that my comfort zone had gotten much larger.
[1] imposter syndrome: a situation in which people with legitimate achievements doubt their accomplishmentsWrite an expository essay about the benefits people receive when they push beyond their comfort zones. Your expository essay must be based on this prompt and topic, and it must incorporate ideas and information found in the sources provided.
Use your best writing to complete an essay that
- is focused on your central idea;
- combines evidence from multiple sources with your own elaboration to develop your ideas;
- is organized and includes transitions within and among ideas;
- provides citations for quoted material and source ideas; and
- demonstrates correct use of grammar and language appropriate to the task.
Write your multiparagraph essay to an academic audience in the space provided.
Source 1: Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)
by Alina Tugend
1 Last week, I moved out of my comfort zone, psychologically and literally. And it didn’t feel so good.
2 First, I spoke to a group of middle-school students about journalism. It was a day when parents were supposed to come and talk about their work and discuss why what you learned in middle school was actually important in real life.
3 I am fairly self-confident about talking to a roomful of adults. But 12- and 13-year-old children made me sweat. Some looked at me intently, but others stared out the window, played with their pencils or poked their neighbors. Suddenly, I was pulled back to my middle-school years, trying to entertain the “popular” kids. I was most uncomfortable.
4 A few days later, we had some workers in to paint a few rooms in the house. No big deal, I thought. Except that as more rooms were draped in drop cloths and living room furniture crowded the dining room, our entire family – and two befuddled cats – retreated upstairs.
5 No one could find anything. Everyone was out of sorts. We were feeling decidedly uncomfortable.
6 Moving out of our comfort zones is supposed to be a good thing. We challenge ourselves, we grow and take on new risks. But is this always true?…
7 [A]s Judith M. Bardwick, author of “Danger in the Comfort Zone” (American Management Association, 1991), writes, “The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral position…”
8 “We need a place of productive discomfort,” said Daniel H. Pink, author of “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” (Riverhead, 2009). “If you’re too comfortable, you’re not productive. And if you’re too uncomfortable, you’re not productive. Like Goldilocks, we can’t be too hot or too cold.”
9 The objective is to reach that optimal level so that our skills increase and we become comfortable with that new level of anxiety – then we’re in an expanded comfort zone. And ideally, we will get more used to those feelings of “productive discomfort” and won’t be so scared to try new things in the future….
10 Choosing to leave our comfort zones is hard enough. But being forced out is even more difficult…. How do we cope with that? A.J. Schuler, a business consultant who has written about resistance to change, advised finding a core group of people – just two or three was enough – who would listen and understand how difficult this was.
11 “I call that personal life board, like a board of directors,” he said. “You need to obtain prior permission to just talk.”
12 The advice on accepting change is pretty obvious, but difficult to carry out, he said, so “you can get down on yourself because you see yourself as stagnant. You need people who won’t get frustrated with that.”…
13 As parents, we can help our children grow into adults who feel more secure about leaving their comfort zones, Mr. Pink said, by resisting the urge to always shield them from uncertainty and discomfort. “If we do that, they can’t be productive,” he said….
14 So being slightly uncomfortable, whether or not by choice, can push us to achieve goals we never thought we could. But it’s important to remember that we don’t need to challenge ourselves and be productive all the time. It’s good to step out of our comfort zone. But it’s also good to be able to go back in.
Excerpt from “Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)” by Alina Tugend. Copyright © 2011 by the New York Times. Reprinted by permission of the New York Times via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 2: Why Feeling Uncomfortable Is the Key to Success
by Sujan Patel
15 While it may not feel like it in the moment, a little bit of discomfort goes a long way in terms of personal development. Sure, no one likes feeling uncomfortable, but it’s a big part of improving your performance, creativity and learning in the long run.
16 Routines may make you feel at ease and in control, but what a constant routine really does is dull your sensitivities. Think about the times in your life when you’ve driven the same route repeatedly: after a certain number of trips, you start turning out most of it. Have you ever had a trip… where you barely remember what happened after you got in the car?
17 If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, you might find yourself tuning out much of your life on a daily basis.
18 But when you go out of your way to experience new things, or when you let new things happen to you, your body creates brand new neural pathways that fuel your creative spark and enhance your memory.
19 In one study, researchers tested the memory of participants by showing them images which were rated as novel, familiar, and very familiar. The best results came when people were shown a novel image, followed by a familiar one. So, while repetition helps with memory, mixing in new information is important as well.
20 That’s why being uncomfortable is something you should embrace. Putting yourself in new and unfamiliar situations triggers a unique part of the brain that releases dopamine, nature’s make-you-happy chemical. Here’s the mind-blower; that unique region of the brain is only activated when you see or experience completely new things.
21 Few people actually enjoy the feeling of being uncomfortable. The challenge is to get past that initial feeling of wanting to return to the norm, so you can grow and benefit from that discomfort….
22 It might be completely evident to you what the source of your discomfort is. What you may not be able to immediately recognize is why you’re feeling the way you are. What is it about the situation that’s triggering the feelings? Are you terrified of rejection….? Are you embarrassed about being on camera….? [A]re [you] suffering from imposter syndrome?[1]
23 In his book Linchpin: Are you Indispensable, Seth Godin wrote, “Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you’re doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they’re hiding out in the comfortable zone ….”
24 Think about another time when something you did brought up similar feelings of discomfort. How did that play out for you? This is your opportunity to celebrate the small wins you previously had, and remind yourself of the growth that came from a previously uncomfortable situation.
25 At the same time, think about those situations where similar feelings and actions led to what you might deem as a failure. As Dr. Martin Seligman, founder of Positive Psychology, once said, “It’s not our failures that determine our future success, but how we explain it to ourselves.”
26 “I’ve never heard a millionaire entrepreneur say they hit it right the first time out,” says Steve Siebold, whose book How Rich People Think, is a culmination of 30 years of interviews. “The bigger they are, the more they’ve typically failed.”
27 And they use what they learn from those failures to counter discomfort, move forward, and finally take the plunge, despite feelings of uncertainty and doubt. Failure is an asset – and you should learn to see it that way…. As long as you’re learning from your mistakes, then you become more valuable with each and every misstep….
28 Of course, not all discomfort serves a positive purpose or will contribute to your growth…. You have to be selective about how, when, and why you’re embracing the discomfort of a given situation and how it can benefit you. Ultimately, you have to find the courage, awareness, and understanding that allow you to see problems and hurdles for what they really are: opportunities to grow and learn.
Excerpt from “Why Feeling Uncomfortable is the Key to Success” by Sujan Patel. Copyright © 2016 by Forbes. Reprinted by permission of Forbes via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 3: Expanding the Comfort Zone
by Kelly West
29 When I was in high school, I came home and told my parents some startling news.
30 I was going to perform a slam poem at the student talent show.
31 My mom and dad looked up from their work with bemusement. They wanted to know if I was OK.
32 I’d always been active. I lived to play sports. But despite my success with playing competitive sports, I never thought the stage was a place for me.
33 It definitely would be outside of my comfort zone to share my creative work in front of my peers. But something inside me said why not try it out.
34 For years, researchers and scientists have studied what happens when people venture beyond their area of comfort and have found some interesting results. A simple decision to try something as new as performing a slam poem could have significant benefits.
35 In fact, research suggests that switching things up by either dealing with a little uncertainty or facing a new challenge can promote learning. One experiment with primates actually showed that when animals could predict the kinds of treats scientists would offer them, the part of their brain that is involved with learning was deactivated. This result could be similar in humans. For example, if you studied your multiplication tables year after year in school, you’d probably feel quite comfortable with that skill and stop needing to exhaust the parts of your brain that help you incorporate new knowledge every time multiplication is necessary to complete a problem.
36 A certain amount of unpredictability allows the regions of the brain that promote new learning to stay active. We can promote this learning and stay out of our comfort zone in simple ways: i.e, changing up a daily routine, having conversations with new and different people, engaging with a new project, or reading about new ideas. All of these things keep things new enough to promote learning and keep us from falling into the trap of sameness.
37 In addition to learning, scientists say that stepping outside of your comfort zone gives you a prime opportunity to see how you respond to new challenges. It may also uncover a new skill or a new interest. For example, after practicing my slam poem in front of parents, friends, and the mirror, I learned that I was a natural at connecting to an audience. I also realized that when I found it hard to remember lines from my poem, all I wanted to do was text my friends…
38 With all this talk of comfort, one might think that growth has to be painful. In fact, some people like to say “no pain, no gain,” which is the idea that you cannot grow without experiencing a lot of discomfort. However, psychologists and researchers actually say that having “manageable challenges” helps you to grow more effectively. For me, dealing with my state fright was a manageable challenge because I already had established a lot of the skills I would need to perform. (For example, presentation skills and the ability to accept criticism.)
39 However, this does not negate the fact that, sometimes, facing new challenges may be a little uncomfortable. Thankfully, research shows that the side effect of encountering discomfort is that individuals are more likely to seek help and social support. In addition, venturing away from what we are used to teaches us how to cope with stressful situations, increases empathy, and prompts us to strengthen close relationships.
40 Although we need to expand our comfort zones in order to grow, it’s important to note that many scientists say that our comfort zones are there for a reason. We wouldn’t be able to get some of our basic, everyday tasks done if we were always uncomfortable. Our comfort zones also give us a set of skills we can work with, ways we can cope with stress, and ways to regain confidence when we are struggling. When preparing to perform my poem felt overwhelming, I was glad to have the distraction of scoring points with my teammates on the field to reinforce my confidence.
41 Our comfort zones are places where we can relax and recharge, and where we live most of our lives. But as we face and overcome new challenges, those zones of comfort get larger, our personal toolkits get more advanced, and we can do more.
42 It can be easy to fall into a daily pattern – a zone of comfort – but after performing my poem, I could tell that my comfort zone had gotten much larger.
[1] imposter syndrome: a situation in which people with legitimate achievements doubt their accomplishmentsWrite an expository essay about the benefits people receive when they push beyond their comfort zones. Your expository essay must be based on this prompt and topic, and it must incorporate ideas and information found in the sources provided.
Use your best writing to complete an essay that
- is focused on your central idea;
- combines evidence from multiple sources with your own elaboration to develop your ideas;
- is organized and includes transitions within and among ideas;
- provides citations for quoted material and source ideas; and
- demonstrates correct use of grammar and language appropriate to the task.
Write your multiparagraph essay to an academic audience in the space provided.
Source 1: Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)
by Alina Tugend
1 Last week, I moved out of my comfort zone, psychologically and literally. And it didn’t feel so good.
2 First, I spoke to a group of middle-school students about journalism. It was a day when parents were supposed to come and talk about their work and discuss why what you learned in middle school was actually important in real life.
3 I am fairly self-confident about talking to a roomful of adults. But 12- and 13-year-old children made me sweat. Some looked at me intently, but others stared out the window, played with their pencils or poked their neighbors. Suddenly, I was pulled back to my middle-school years, trying to entertain the “popular” kids. I was most uncomfortable.
4 A few days later, we had some workers in to paint a few rooms in the house. No big deal, I thought. Except that as more rooms were draped in drop cloths and living room furniture crowded the dining room, our entire family – and two befuddled cats – retreated upstairs.
5 No one could find anything. Everyone was out of sorts. We were feeling decidedly uncomfortable.
6 Moving out of our comfort zones is supposed to be a good thing. We challenge ourselves, we grow and take on new risks. But is this always true?…
7 [A]s Judith M. Bardwick, author of “Danger in the Comfort Zone” (American Management Association, 1991), writes, “The comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral position…”
8 “We need a place of productive discomfort,” said Daniel H. Pink, author of “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” (Riverhead, 2009). “If you’re too comfortable, you’re not productive. And if you’re too uncomfortable, you’re not productive. Like Goldilocks, we can’t be too hot or too cold.”
9 The objective is to reach that optimal level so that our skills increase and we become comfortable with that new level of anxiety – then we’re in an expanded comfort zone. And ideally, we will get more used to those feelings of “productive discomfort” and won’t be so scared to try new things in the future….
10 Choosing to leave our comfort zones is hard enough. But being forced out is even more difficult…. How do we cope with that? A.J. Schuler, a business consultant who has written about resistance to change, advised finding a core group of people – just two or three was enough – who would listen and understand how difficult this was.
11 “I call that personal life board, like a board of directors,” he said. “You need to obtain prior permission to just talk.”
12 The advice on accepting change is pretty obvious, but difficult to carry out, he said, so “you can get down on yourself because you see yourself as stagnant. You need people who won’t get frustrated with that.”…
13 As parents, we can help our children grow into adults who feel more secure about leaving their comfort zones, Mr. Pink said, by resisting the urge to always shield them from uncertainty and discomfort. “If we do that, they can’t be productive,” he said….
14 So being slightly uncomfortable, whether or not by choice, can push us to achieve goals we never thought we could. But it’s important to remember that we don’t need to challenge ourselves and be productive all the time. It’s good to step out of our comfort zone. But it’s also good to be able to go back in.
Excerpt from “Tiptoeing Out of One’s Comfort Zone (and Of Course, Back In)” by Alina Tugend. Copyright © 2011 by the New York Times. Reprinted by permission of the New York Times via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 2: Why Feeling Uncomfortable Is the Key to Success
by Sujan Patel
15 While it may not feel like it in the moment, a little bit of discomfort goes a long way in terms of personal development. Sure, no one likes feeling uncomfortable, but it’s a big part of improving your performance, creativity and learning in the long run.
16 Routines may make you feel at ease and in control, but what a constant routine really does is dull your sensitivities. Think about the times in your life when you’ve driven the same route repeatedly: after a certain number of trips, you start turning out most of it. Have you ever had a trip… where you barely remember what happened after you got in the car?
17 If you don’t get out of your comfort zone, you might find yourself tuning out much of your life on a daily basis.
18 But when you go out of your way to experience new things, or when you let new things happen to you, your body creates brand new neural pathways that fuel your creative spark and enhance your memory.
19 In one study, researchers tested the memory of participants by showing them images which were rated as novel, familiar, and very familiar. The best results came when people were shown a novel image, followed by a familiar one. So, while repetition helps with memory, mixing in new information is important as well.
20 That’s why being uncomfortable is something you should embrace. Putting yourself in new and unfamiliar situations triggers a unique part of the brain that releases dopamine, nature’s make-you-happy chemical. Here’s the mind-blower; that unique region of the brain is only activated when you see or experience completely new things.
21 Few people actually enjoy the feeling of being uncomfortable. The challenge is to get past that initial feeling of wanting to return to the norm, so you can grow and benefit from that discomfort….
22 It might be completely evident to you what the source of your discomfort is. What you may not be able to immediately recognize is why you’re feeling the way you are. What is it about the situation that’s triggering the feelings? Are you terrified of rejection….? Are you embarrassed about being on camera….? [A]re [you] suffering from imposter syndrome?[1]
23 In his book Linchpin: Are you Indispensable, Seth Godin wrote, “Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you’re doing something that others were unlikely to do, because they’re hiding out in the comfortable zone ….”
24 Think about another time when something you did brought up similar feelings of discomfort. How did that play out for you? This is your opportunity to celebrate the small wins you previously had, and remind yourself of the growth that came from a previously uncomfortable situation.
25 At the same time, think about those situations where similar feelings and actions led to what you might deem as a failure. As Dr. Martin Seligman, founder of Positive Psychology, once said, “It’s not our failures that determine our future success, but how we explain it to ourselves.”
26 “I’ve never heard a millionaire entrepreneur say they hit it right the first time out,” says Steve Siebold, whose book How Rich People Think, is a culmination of 30 years of interviews. “The bigger they are, the more they’ve typically failed.”
27 And they use what they learn from those failures to counter discomfort, move forward, and finally take the plunge, despite feelings of uncertainty and doubt. Failure is an asset – and you should learn to see it that way…. As long as you’re learning from your mistakes, then you become more valuable with each and every misstep….
28 Of course, not all discomfort serves a positive purpose or will contribute to your growth…. You have to be selective about how, when, and why you’re embracing the discomfort of a given situation and how it can benefit you. Ultimately, you have to find the courage, awareness, and understanding that allow you to see problems and hurdles for what they really are: opportunities to grow and learn.
Excerpt from “Why Feeling Uncomfortable is the Key to Success” by Sujan Patel. Copyright © 2016 by Forbes. Reprinted by permission of Forbes via Copyright Clearance Center.
Source 3: Expanding the Comfort Zone
by Kelly West
29 When I was in high school, I came home and told my parents some startling news.
30 I was going to perform a slam poem at the student talent show.
31 My mom and dad looked up from their work with bemusement. They wanted to know if I was OK.
32 I’d always been active. I lived to play sports. But despite my success with playing competitive sports, I never thought the stage was a place for me.
33 It definitely would be outside of my comfort zone to share my creative work in front of my peers. But something inside me said why not try it out.
34 For years, researchers and scientists have studied what happens when people venture beyond their area of comfort and have found some interesting results. A simple decision to try something as new as performing a slam poem could have significant benefits.
35 In fact, research suggests that switching things up by either dealing with a little uncertainty or facing a new challenge can promote learning. One experiment with primates actually showed that when animals could predict the kinds of treats scientists would offer them, the part of their brain that is involved with learning was deactivated. This result could be similar in humans. For example, if you studied your multiplication tables year after year in school, you’d probably feel quite comfortable with that skill and stop needing to exhaust the parts of your brain that help you incorporate new knowledge every time multiplication is necessary to complete a problem.
36 A certain amount of unpredictability allows the regions of the brain that promote new learning to stay active. We can promote this learning and stay out of our comfort zone in simple ways: i.e, changing up a daily routine, having conversations with new and different people, engaging with a new project, or reading about new ideas. All of these things keep things new enough to promote learning and keep us from falling into the trap of sameness.
37 In addition to learning, scientists say that stepping outside of your comfort zone gives you a prime opportunity to see how you respond to new challenges. It may also uncover a new skill or a new interest. For example, after practicing my slam poem in front of parents, friends, and the mirror, I learned that I was a natural at connecting to an audience. I also realized that when I found it hard to remember lines from my poem, all I wanted to do was text my friends…
38 With all this talk of comfort, one might think that growth has to be painful. In fact, some people like to say “no pain, no gain,” which is the idea that you cannot grow without experiencing a lot of discomfort. However, psychologists and researchers actually say that having “manageable challenges” helps you to grow more effectively. For me, dealing with my state fright was a manageable challenge because I already had established a lot of the skills I would need to perform. (For example, presentation skills and the ability to accept criticism.)
39 However, this does not negate the fact that, sometimes, facing new challenges may be a little uncomfortable. Thankfully, research shows that the side effect of encountering discomfort is that individuals are more likely to seek help and social support. In addition, venturing away from what we are used to teaches us how to cope with stressful situations, increases empathy, and prompts us to strengthen close relationships.
40 Although we need to expand our comfort zones in order to grow, it’s important to note that many scientists say that our comfort zones are there for a reason. We wouldn’t be able to get some of our basic, everyday tasks done if we were always uncomfortable. Our comfort zones also give us a set of skills we can work with, ways we can cope with stress, and ways to regain confidence when we are struggling. When preparing to perform my poem felt overwhelming, I was glad to have the distraction of scoring points with my teammates on the field to reinforce my confidence.
41 Our comfort zones are places where we can relax and recharge, and where we live most of our lives. But as we face and overcome new challenges, those zones of comfort get larger, our personal toolkits get more advanced, and we can do more.
42 It can be easy to fall into a daily pattern – a zone of comfort – but after performing my poem, I could tell that my comfort zone had gotten much larger.
[1] imposter syndrome: a situation in which people with legitimate achievements doubt their accomplishments