The necessity and surprising benefits of Discomfort on our way to achieving career goals

“The only thing that is stopping you from where you are to where you want to go is your comfort zone.” – Dhaval Gaudier

I was recently reading a book called “ The comfort crisis” by Michael Ester which discusses the dangers of having too much comfort in our lives and the importance of embracing discomfort every now and then for our psychological wellbeing.

At first I was thinking about physical comforts like a fancy home and a nice car, but then I started to realize that just like we seek comfort in our physical world we also seek career comfort by pursuing jobs and pathways we are familiar with and avoiding anything that involves uncertainty or any form of risk.

By nature most of us are cautious people, and the ones who made it to medical school are specially more conservative and tend to take less and less risks in life. Although this trait probably had an evolutionary advantage and must have saved the lives of our ancestors hundreds of thousands of years ago, yet it hampers our ability to grow in the ever changing world we now live in.

The author mentions that humans are not used to living in a constant stage of comfort even though we strive for it, yet life without discomfort is not natural and people start getting anxiety and depression if all their needs are met and they have no challenges at all. There is a phenomenon called “problem creep” that happens when everything is working perfectly in our lives, and this is what created what we now call “First world problems” which are trivial problems that seem blown out of proportion due to the absence of real problems in our lives.

As I read the author’s discussion something began to crystalize in my mind about our careers related do the integral role of discomfort in reaching our career goals. I realized that for most people career advancement passes through 4 predictable stages:

The first stage I call the “Dissatisfaction stage” – where you feel that you want more out of your career, this can be financially or work / life balance or purpose or general satisfaction. This happens to a lot of people, but unfortunately it ends there and they never progress to the next stage.

The second stage I call the “Discomfort stage” – where you decide to change an aspect of your career by doing something that is unfamiliar and difficult to accomplish. This is the most important stage, and is where most people abandon their dreams and aspirations.

The third stage is the “Doubt stage” – where things don’t go as planned due to unrealistic expectations or just because life events never unfold the way we expect them to. Even the brave souls who ventured out of their comfort zones fall prey to this stage and give up on their goals because of self doubt.

The last and fourth stage is the “success stage” where you accomplish your goal and in most cases exceed your expectations. This is the stage that people around you will recognize and praise you for disregarding the 3 preceding stages.

I call this model of career advancement 3Ds with capital “D” for the first 3 stages and a small “s” for the fourth “success” stage because it’s the least significant of them.  The Dissatisfaction, Discomfort and Doubt stages are where most of our growth happens and where our persistence, confidence and tenacity are tested to their limits. The 3D’s are the stages were we change and metamorphose into a better version of ourselves. If success is the tip of the iceberg , then the 3D’s are the rest of the iceberg submerged under water maintaining its stability and form.

Many people reach the first stage of “Dissatisfaction” but never really go past it. They just complain and complain but never seem to do anything about their unhappiness. They decide to not take action to avoid the next two stages of “Discomfort and Doubt”.

IMGs generally feel dissatisfied of:

• their current careers or at least the stagnation they feel in their jobs
• where they are in life financially,
• their work / life balance,
• the way they are treated at work,
• their inflexible infrequent days off and vacations
• the toxic environment at work
• the boredom they feel doing the same thing everyday
• the absence of challenge or excitement
• the absence of purpose or growth or meaning in what they do
• the unmet personal and professional ambitions that their current career is holding them back from

The Discomfort and Doubt stages for many IMGs include:

• Studying for USMLEs and other exams years after graduation
• Going for unpaid research and working in a lab or with animals instead of seeing patients
• Leaving a guaranteed career back home in search for an uncertain career in the US
• Leaving the comfort of home and living alone in a small town away from family and friends
• Moving your spouse and children from one city to another year after year
• Having to adapt to new ways of thinking and dealing with people
• Social isolation after getting used to having a vibrant community around us
• Having to repeat residency or fellowship training with seniors who might be younger and less experienced
• Getting a huge pay cut during transitions for those who have already started their medical careers and built a substantial monthly income.
• Dealing with difficult mentors and colleagues as well as facing various power dynamics and politics in new work places.

I can guarantee that any IMG who accomplished some of their career goals has lived through many of those dissatisfactions, discomforts and self doubts.  It’s as if these inconveniences are a rite of passage for anyone embarking on improving and advancing their career.

So what’s the take home message? It’s to expect and welcome discomfort as you leave your comfort zone towards your career goal. If you don’t feel that uneasiness and uncomfortable feeling when doing something new, then you’re not really challenging yourself enough and you’re not out of our comfort zone yet.

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Unknown 

"A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there." – Unknown

M.Soliman