The Benefits of Leaving Your Comfort Zone

by Zain Raja

I used to be scared of leaving my comfort zone because of fear that things wouldn’t work out – that I wouldn’t like an activity, that my work wouldn’t be good enough, or that people would reject me. If it wasn’t going to work out in the end, I reasoned that it would be better to cut my losses early. Therefore, I sometimes didn’t take advantage of opportunities that came my way, especially if they required me to leave my comfort zone. I didn’t realize I was shooting myself in the foot. As the saying goes, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

Then I read Jia Jiang’s Rejection Proof: How I Beat Fear and Became Invincible Through 100 Days of Rejection. I recognized I was setting myself up for failure if I let fear prevent me from taking advantage of opportunities. Therefore, I deliberately practiced stepping out of my comfort zone. Just like Jia Jiang, I put my energy in what used to scare me and worked to continue to pursue it and improve. I am now better able to take control of my decisions and better approach uncomfortable situations.

One of the opportunities I took advantage of was applying to the Interactive Measurement Group. Instead of being afraid I was going to be rejected, I had an open mind, which made me prepared to accept whatever outcome occurred. I was learning not to let uncertainly scare me out of trying. As we all know, I got accepted into the lab. Over the last two years, I’ve learned advanced statistical methods like factor analysis and censored data analysis, co-authored four conference posters, given multiple workshops, and even helped organize a professional conference.

After reading Jia’s book, I was able to better approach uncomfortable situations. If things went the way I wanted, cool, but if they didn’t, that’s okay as well because at the end of the day all that matters is that I didn’t let the fear of uncertainty stop me from trying.

Zain Raja joined the Interactive Measurement Group in the fall of 2020. He is a pre-med student, majoring in psychology. He plans on graduating in the spring of 2023 and hopes to attend medical school shortly thereafter. He is currently exploring internal medicine and other possible specializations for his M.D.