My brother is currently teaching English at a University in China. One day on the way back to his residence after teaching classes , a friend pulled him into an auditorium where a talent show was happening. Before he knew what was happening, he had been pulled up on stage to play guitar and sing.
Might be natural for some people, especially those in choir or theater. My brother was in neither.
He doesn’t sing, much less perform for a packed auditorium.
But when he went to China after graduating college, he was looking to get uncomfortable and to grow.
And growth doesn’t happen when we’re complacent and comfortable.
To grow, we need to feel uneasy.
To become good at anything, means overcoming the fear of failure. It’s an uncomfortable feeling.
The first time you do anything that involves a high percentage of failure (cold calling, stand-up comedy, pitching), it’s extremely uncomfortable.
But each time it gets a little bit easier and that initial fear can eventually quiet down.
The hardest part is defeating the fear for the first time.
The experience ends up being not as bad as we thought or maybe we end up falling flat on our face.
But because we’ve already experienced it once, we know what to expect which demystifies the fear.
This is all obvious advice. We all know that we grow from things we fear and that make us uncomfortable.
But the difference from knowing and acting upon that knowledge is what makes people.
Know what will make you uncomfortable and provide growth. Act on it.
Below you can watch the video of my brother performing for an appreciative crowd. He doesn’t sing. He isn’t the loudest person in the room seeking your attention. This isn’t something that’s normal or comfortable for him.
He just found an opportunity to grow and took it.
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