There is something so uncomfortable about being a beginner.
You don’t know what you’re doing yet. You’re still trying to figure things out, watching other people who seem like they already have it all down, and wondering if you’re the only one who feels completely out of place. There is something uncomfortable about being the person who has to ask questions, make mistakes, and learn as they go.
I think that’s one of the biggest reasons we stay inside our comfort zones. We want to try new things, but we also want to be good at them. We want to walk into the room already knowing what we’re doing. We want to feel confident before we’ve even given ourselves a reason to be.
But that’s not really how trying something new works.
You don’t have to be good at something to try it. You just have to be willing to be bad at it first.
This is something I’ve been reminded of recently after joining my school’s dance team. Dance was something I had always been interested in, but I had never actually danced before. I didn’t know exactly what to expect, but I decided to give it a try. A few weeks in, I’m already glad that I pushed myself outside of my comfort zone.
I didn’t know if I would be good at it, but I realized that didn’t need to be the reason I held myself back.
I think we do this with a lot more than just hobbies. We convince ourselves that we need to already have some level of talent, confidence, or experience before we’re allowed to try something. We don’t want to be the person who doesn’t know anyone at the club meeting, the person who has no idea what they’re doing at the gym, or the person applying for an opportunity without checking every box. But if we always wait until we’re qualified, comfortable, or confident, we’re going to miss out on a lot of things we might actually enjoy.
Getting out of your comfort zone doesn’t have to mean doing something huge or completely different. Sometimes it’s just giving yourself permission to try something without knowing how it’s going to turn out.
And maybe that’s the part we should stop putting so much pressure on. Not everything we try has to become a new passion, a major accomplishment, or something we’re immediately good at. Sometimes it’s enough to be curious and give yourself the chance to find out.
So, try the thing you’ve been thinking about. Join the club. Take the class. Pick up the hobby. Say yes to something that makes you a little nervous. You don’t have to be good at it yet. You just have to be willing to be bad at it first.