When we’re developing new skills, there is inevitably a period during which we’re not very good. This can be particularly daunting if that period is played out in public, such as when we’re public speaking. This fear of embarrassment can dissuade us from trying new things.

Research from the University of Chicago suggests that we can overcome this by focusing less on trying to avoid embarrassment and more on actively seeking it out. Indeed, the researchers argue that seeking discomfort can be hugely motivating because when we feel discomfort it’s often a very tangible feeling, and this can help us make progress towards our goals.

“People often see discomfort as a sign to stop pursuing a goal, yet discomfort often means you are making progress,” they explain. “We find people can harness discomfort to motivate themselves to achieve important goals.”

Out of our comfort zone

The researchers recruited several hundred volunteers to participate in 55 classes. The instructors in each class gave the students one of two sets of instructions that either asked them to actively seek discomfort as their goal, ie “your goal is to feel uncomfortable during this exercise”, or a baseline instruction that students usually hear when doing some kind of improv exercise.

“Instructing students to seek discomfort increased their persistence and risk-taking in the exercise – they made more progress and learned more,” the researchers explain.

In additional experiments, the researchers discovered that when we seek out discomfort, this can be motivating across a range of contexts, from writing about difficult events to learning about health information. Indeed, people were even more open to political opponents when they were primed to seek discomfort.

“Our society is becoming more politically divided. Our intervention helps open people up to information that is important, but uncomfortable to hear and may help close the political divide,” the authors say.

In short, the study suggests that if we want to grow, whether at work or in life more generally, it’s important that we’re willing and able to put ourselves into calling situations.

“When we feel out of our comfort zone, we interpret that as a sign to proceed carefully, or not at all. Yet ultimately to succeed in business, we need to take risks,” they conclude. “Seeking discomfort can help ensure our success.”