Today is January 9 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "How often do you experience psychological or cognitive disequilibrium?"
Psychological and cognitive disequilibrium, an unsettling stimulus or experience that disrupts one’s previously established belief structure, is a trait often found in the backstories of successful people.
Disequilibrium can be produced by almost any stimulus that agitates one’s current way of understanding and being.
According to Nevitt Sanford, the experience of psychological and cognitive disequilibrium produces feelings of internal dissonance that manifests itself as uncertainty, and sometimes as conflict and even threat.
“But it is the experience of such dissonance that opens up the possibility for learning and growth because it nudges individuals into confronting and considering new ways of understanding, thinking, and acting that help to unsettle the old and integrate it with the new.”
This integration of the new with the old requires intention coupled with an increase in self-awareness.
Experiencing disequilibrium requires one to take ownership of their learning and then proactively leverage the integration of the new with the old in order to grow.
Research suggests that “the process of disequilibrium takes on a sequence of levels in which equilibrium must be established at lower levels before the individuals can attempt to make meaning of disequilibrium at a higher level.”
Successful people understand this, or grow to realize this process, and gradually build the capacity to take on greater complexity in both thought and action over time. Another way of thinking about this is that successful people understand the benefit of getting out of their comfort zone.
“Stepping outside one’s comfort zone is an important, and almost universal, factor in personal growth.
Reaching new heights involves the risk of attempting something we might not succeed at.” When evaluating the impact of people going out of their comfort zone, researchers have found that learning to adapt to a little anxiety can help people achieve to focus their efforts and perform at their peak in order to reach new levels of achievement.
Stephen Josephson, a psychologist in New York City who has treated athletes, actors, and musicians noted that “coaches and sports psychologists have always known that they do not want their athlete to be relaxed right before an event as they need some ‘juice’ to go fast.”
As Alina Tugend wrote in a New York Times editorial “being slightly uncomfortable, whether or not by choice, can push us to achieve goals we never thought we could.” Recognizing that individuals don’t need to challenge themselves all the time, Tugend concluded that although it is good to step out of our comfort zone, it is also good to go back in when necessary.
American author Neale Donald Walsch noted that "life begins at the end of your comfort zone."
Do you believe that 'life begins at the end of your comfort zone?'
Is something holding your back from traveling outside of your comfort zone?
As you go about your day consider asking yourself "What have you done lately to experience psychological or cognitive disequilibrium?"