Why you should do things that make you uncomfortable?

The internet is full of quotes and anecdotes that push you to get out of your comfort zone and do that thing that you wanted to do (but lack motivation) and needs to be done.

Sure, they give you that external push, but I feel it is really important that this motivation comes from within. For that is when you truly get out of the mould you have so comfortably fit yourselves in and experience a change in worldview and perspective.

This is what truly dictates your growth and will determine how far you could go.

But that doesn’t mean it’s all about doing the big things. There might be times when you are faced with a challenge that requires herculean efforts, but those situations are pretty rare.

Majorly, it’s the little things. These are the challenges that come in front of you as a double choice question and your answer dictates the paths you will traverse and the goals you will reach.  The goals I do hope you reach. No matter little or big, how you approach the situation tells a lot about you as a person.

Recently, Rohit Sood, Manager of the Infringement team, wrote to his team and encouraged everyone to do things that make you uncomfortable and push your limits. Before I share the email he wrote, let me set the context for you.

Given the pandemic, all of us are working from home, and depending on the city we live in, we all have the pleasure of experiencing the environment around us. While some of us are living in major cities surrounded by concrete jungles, a lot of our teammates are lucky to be living in some of the most beautiful hill stations of India, living amidst nature, breathing the cleanest and least polluted air in the world. Oh, how I envy them.

That’s just not it. Some of them have sprawling fruit-laden trees in their vicinity with fruits so sweet, it’s the kind of stuff dreams are made of.

Back to the email, Rohit was super lucky to have a couple of beautiful Apple trees in his backyard, which had produced fruit that had ripened and needed harvesting. That being said, over to Rohit and his email. After all, stories are best told by the people who get to experience it firsthand.

This is an important thought to accomplish anything big/small. For me this eureka moment was last Sunday. 

I was at home and we have a couple of apple trees. And the trees had fruits that need to be plucked. Now the obvious question comes – Who will climb up the tree and pluck the fruits?

We generally call someone else to get it done. But that day he was not available. So, I thought to give it a try. I was no pro but I thought let’s try it once. I started climbing the bark of the tree and slipped a bit.

My mom panicked and said, “Tu rehne de! Tu kabhi chadha nhi ped pe. Rehne de lag na jaye kahin”.

English Translation: You leave it, you never climbed a tree before. You might get hurt.

After listening to my mom, I made up my mind, “Ab toh krke dikhana hi padega”.

 Translation: I will have to do it now. 

With this thought, I went into analyzing/planning/strategizing mode. I identified that I need to find the points where I can place my feet and maintain balance so that I do not fall.

I analyzed the bark and found that there are some V-shaped branches that can be useful. But the first one was quite high. I could not have reached that without any external help. So, I brought in a short stool. I stand on it and tried to reach that branch. But was unable to do it.

That was it. My mom was like, “Pack up”.

I knew that if somehow I reached that branch I will be able to climb the tree. I went inside to find a taller stool and came back with one. And I used it to get to that branch. And then slowly and steadily made my way up through the tree and plucked some apples. Most amazing feeling ever (Picture below).

I climbed up but later I found out that climbing down is the difficult part. But after some tries and resting on the tree, I managed somehow to get back down safely.

At the end of the day, I had but one thought in mind – ‘Do something that makes you uncomfortable and you will conquer what you never thought you could’.

That said, what uncomfortable thing you are going to do today?