One of the best-known personal development lessons is to get out of your comfort zone; that is where personal growth begins. Only from that point does anything start to count. Similarly, Muhammad Ali replied when a reporter asked him how many sit-ups he performs:
“I don’t count my sit-ups; I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.”
Muhammad Ali
How to Get out of Your Comfort Zone?
There are many ways to get out of your comfort zone – drawing a dot on your forehead, dressing in eccentric clothes, listening to music from another genre, or changing your social group, etc. Basically, you just have to do something you’ve never done before.
Why Get out of Your Comfort Zone?
Our comfort zone is the state when we relax. Everything is familiar to us, familiar and therefore simple. You get used to ease. The question is, how much do we actually learn at this moment? Nothing much. Unless it matters. A monk who has reached the deepest state of meditation will never come out of that comfort zone, yet he can learn a lot. But you’re not a monk, so if you want to learn something, let’s go out of our comfort zone!
This is my story about how I got out of my comfort zone.
You Have to Go Abroad!
Have you heard that nothing is as good as going abroad?
University classmates who had already returned from abroad told me : “Dude, you must definitely go! Studying abroad is the best thing that the school has to offer.”
Well-known travel YouTubers (Lost LeBlanc, Benn TK, TheLifeOfJord …): “Leaving my job and starting to travel was the best decision of my life! One will learn… I definitely recommend it to everyone.”
Yeah, I’d love to go, but how? I’m barely able to speak a foreign language. I thought with a slightly disappointed look on my face.
The Great Decision of a Man Who Was a Tyro in Foreign Languages
There was a huge decision ahead of me:
- Let it go and stay in the peace and comfort of home.
- Bite the bullet, try to learn the language in my free time, pass the English test at school, and go explore the world.
Ultimately, I chose the second option: “When else to learn a language than now?”
Greatest Obstacle – English Exam
After a year and a half of lukewarm but daily homework, it was time for my first try. I was already in the fifth semester at CTU FIT . The test seemed quite difficult, but I was confident of reaching the minimum score, ten points out of twenty. A daunting reality check came shortly after receiving the results of the test. Get up! You got five. Not five as in elementary school, but unfortunately – the result was the same. Getting five points out of twenty considerably shook with my confidence and ambition to go abroad.
The next year I didn’t bother with the test. I was in my hardest semester at university, and I knew I wouldn’t pass the test without preparation. So I bet everything on the last card. I was in the second year of my master’s so the next year was my last chance to study abroad.
“Oh, ten points out of twenty …”, I didn’t know whether to be happy that I passed the exam or to be sad because the result of three years of home effort was to pass with the absolute minimum. Well, with this result, I will hardly choose my dream destination and university.
Hooray to Taiwan
In the first round of applications, I tried to get into American Universities. Not because the USA was my dream destination, but because where else to learn English, right? Perhaps the study department saw my inner intention and immediately refused my application.
In the second round, you can choose universities in Asia, which has always been closer to my heart. Especially Japan. As a shy introvert, principled and polite, I felt I could relate with the locals. Except Japan is expensive, right? And chiefly with my results, they would never accept me there. So why not to try Taiwan instead? A country neighboring Japan, cheaper and actually better in everything! Apart from those strange characters they call the script.
Thank God that I was the only one who applied at the particular university! Otherwise, they wouldn’t take me anywhere. So instead of worming through a heap of offers, my heart said with humility and gratitude: “Let’s go to Taiwan!”
Something About Taiwan or Chinese Island?
So here I am. On a large island that locals call Taiwan and in China their island. It’s also confirmed by the visa in the passport, where you can find R.O.C – Republic Of China. Eight months in a foreign country await me. In a country full of letters that look like they came out of the world of children’s drawings, and where being white is sexy. On an island where cuteness reigns, put differently, the cuter you are, the better you fit in. In a place where the population density is so huge that the saying “You can find it at every corner” is not true, as there are dozens of restaurants between each corner.
How I Got out of My Comfort Zone
My biggest adventure so far begins right at the airport. With a wonderstruck face, I’m getting through the crowds of Asians. Through unfamiliar places and with my broken English, I try to talk to the airport staff: “Do you speak English?”, “Yyyyes, a little.”, “Ok, then you won’t have any issue here. Welcome to Taiwan.”
Here I am. Standing outside of Taiwanese airport, a new world is opening in front of me and my comfort zone back at home. What awaits me here I am not yet aware.