Developing Up

Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable

Episode Summary

Facing new career challenges as a developer is often uncomfortable. In today's episode we discuss the importance of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Episode Notes

Facing new career challenges as a developer is often uncomfortable. In today's episode we discuss the importance of getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. We examine the risks of staying comfortable and the trap of “good enough”. We then talk about uncomfortable situations you may face and how you can use them to grow and improve yourself.

Risks of being comfortable

• Stagnation
• Lack of growth and the mindset of “good enough”
• Underchallenged burnout

Benefits of being uncomfortable

• Forces new challenges
• Breaking past your limitations
• Setting yourself up to be a great example

How to embracing being uncomfortable

• Face every situation with an “I will learn something” mindset
• Think about the worst case and best case scenarios. Embrace the best case.
• Motivate yourself by mentally reviewing past successes.

Notes from this Episode:

• The Peter Principle
• Imposter Syndrome
• How to Tackle Your Inner Critic and Unleash Your ‘Badassery’

Listener Challenges:

• Challenge yourself to fail. See if you let yourself fail or not.
• Reflect on where you are in your career and what uncomfortable situations you overcame to get there.

Previous Episodes mentioned:

• [How you identify, treat and prevent the three types of developer burn out] 4
• The three key phrases you need to know to be a great developer