Feeling too easy for too long? Time to shake things up a bit!
You only grow as a person when you constantly step out of your comfort zone
I was thinking on the topic for this week. What do I want to share…I wondered? Few minutes passed but nothing struck. Then I reversed my thinking…what could I share that could benefit people? I started to think outwards and suddenly I started to get a lot of ideas. As ideas started to come I went as far back to my college days at IIT. Oh those days…that’s like a kitchen full of content.
While getting into IIT stands one of my finest achievement but the time at IIT was also one of my toughest. And hence lots of learning and plethora of content to write on too!
The first 1-2 years, especially, were a real struggle for me at IIT.
They say,
Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.
And my true character revealed in quite an abundance in these initial years.
The first 18 years of my life were relatively comfortable for me. I had grown in a very protective environment. Family was easy going and so was school. I had not realised the kind of person I was growing into until I reached college. That’s when circumstances came hard at me which I was not really prepared for. While I was intelligent with some good all-round talent (sports, spoken english and other extra-currics) but I was an impressionable, insecure chap….fearing the worse!
I struggled at almost everything that the college life and hostel life would throw at you…academics, extra-currics, social life in hostels etc. I had ventured well outside my comfort zone across all areas. In this article I would touch on the academic aspect. Perhaps in the subsequent articles I would touch upon other aspects as well.
My rank in IIT’s entrance exam was 204 and I had gotten into the 5-year Dual Degree course in Computer Science. In fact I was the “rank opener” in the Dual Degree program. However all our classes/exams are with the 4-year B.Tech students. Which means we were to compete with the students, all of whose All India Ranks are below 100! These were the kind of students which we used to look at in awe when we used to prepare for IIT. And here I was, in the same battle ring as them!
Having attended the first few classes with them; spotting rankers like AIR-1, 4, 8, 15, 21, 23 sitting in the same class…I had already started to feel nervous; unsure if I would really be able to perform at a good enough level amongst this ‘elite’ crowd. And then just in a few days time, my doubts were confirmed. Not necessarily factually but definitely in my mind.
A school friend of mine had also gotten into IIT Delhi but his hostel was different from mine (we have about 10-12 hostels and every year new batch of students are divided into these hostels). We bumped into each other in the campus, sometime in the first fortnight of the start of college, and we started talking. Then he tells about his hostel seniors who are also part of the same Dual Degree program as mine (but one year senior to us). In his words:
“Unki mari rehti hai! Panji, chhagi maarte hain mushkil se”
They struggle big time and barely get 5-pointer or 6-pointer grades (out of 10).
While I know he exaggerates a bit (Bro, I know you will be reading this blog too so please dont mind. I love you :)) but it was enough to confirm the doubt in my mind: “I am not good enough. I am going to have to work really hard just to survive.”
For the entire first year then, knowing that I am not good enough…I studied really, really hard.
The result: 6-point something in my first semester and 5-point something in my second sem and failing in one Maths course!
Yes, I got the rather unenviable distinction of being a “5-point someone” that you may recall from Chetan Bhagat’s blockbuster novel.
I seriously contemplated changing my department at the end of first year.
But true to my nature, I persisted.
Over the years, there was a steady improvement in my performance. For my remaining years at IIT while I still remained very much a “Work In Progress”, I was certainly scoring better grades with lesser efforts.
What changed?
When you are thrown in trenches, you have no option but to battle harder and up your game. Survival instincts kick in and you have to find ways to make it through. And while I may not have aced the circumstances but I was much better than my “first year” self.
The circumstances that are “well outside” of your comfort zone earlier, start to feel more like at home as time goes on.
Looking back, I feel I could have been more adventurous in venturing out of my comfort zone in my school years. You only grow when you are constantly trying to go out of your comfort zone.
So remember whenever it feels too easy for too long, then that’s a definitive sign to shake things a bit. Its time to step out. Its time to get out of your comfort zone!