One of the questions I get most often over on Twitter is about how you move into the career or field you want if you have no experience in it.

Photo credit: Laertes

It’s an excellent question. The answer would definitely take more than a single post to answer, though I think there’s something fundamental that can be shared in fairly short order.

In order to grow, you need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

The Growth Zone

I had the idea of “the growth zone” explained to me first by my father, then heard it again by a mentor and close friend in undergrad. Most recently, I read about the same concept in Stephen Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The idea boils down to this:

Everyone has three zones: their comfort zone, their growth zone, and their panic zone. To grow, you must leave your comfort zone.

You can think of the three zones as concentric circles. Your comfort zone is in the middle. Your growth zone is a slightly larger circle. Your panic zone is everything outside your growth zone.

Many people are mistakenly under the assumption that there’s no growth zone. They believe that as soon as they leave comfort, there’s only panic(!). Luckily, they’re dead wrong.

The other big mistake people make is to believe that these zones are static. No, sirree – they’re not. The more time you spend in your growth zone, the larger your comfort zone becomes. Think of all the things you can do now that you couldn’t when you were 10. Or even the things you can do now that you were terrified about even a year ago.

You grow every day without even realizing it. What I want to suggest here is that you start doing it intentionally.

Work It

Now that you know you grow every day, and how it basically works, what I suggest you do is guide that development. Make conscious choices to play around in your growth zone in ways that will support you in developing in the way you want.

For example, I got a question recently from @Ben_Slabbert about how an engineering student could get into F1. What would I suggest to Ben? You got it – find ways to grow strategically. For example, Ben could join his school’s car design team – even if he has no previous experience. He could use that experience to land co-op jobs with automotive or racing-related employers. He could join professional or industry associations related to F1. He could apply for scholarships sponsored by F1 companies.

Ben’ s got to build experience and meet people.

In short – Ben’s got to put himself out there, even though it’s going to be uncomfortable due to his lack of previous experience. Eventually, with enough experience related to the industry, and after meeting people in the industry, he’ll be perfectly situated to apply for entry-level jobs when he graduates.

What will you do?

Now its your turn. What will you do to play in your growth zone? Tell us all about it in the comment section below. And while you’re down there, be sure to sign up for the killer Engineering and Leadership Newsletter for updates, bonus material, and all sorts of free extras.