Beyond Chaotic Days, People Grow
Several years ago, I participated as a student volunteer in an international conference for women held in Japan. I was a mature university student at the time. During the pre-event party, a woman who was active in society said, "If you want to grow in your career from now on, you must not stay in the same place for three years."
And today, I came across a very intriguing article.
In this article, Mr. Motohashi introduces a concept regarding human resource development and capacity building proposed by Noel Tichy, former director of the GE Leadership Center. It states that there are three stages of human growth: 1) the Comfort Zone, 2) the Learning Zone, and 3) the Panic Zone.
If someone who thinks they are currently in zone 1 moves to zone 2 to learn, that is easy to understand. That is likely what is meant by "you won't grow if you stay for three years." But what about the Panic Zone, zone 3?
According to Mr. Motohashi, the Panic Zone (zone 3) is:
→ A state of excessive stress, where you cannot think, and you feel extreme anxiety or fear. For example, it is a state where you are involved in work with excessive expectations or pressure, or where you cannot keep up with the magnitude of change because the skills you have acquired or the style you have established do not work and you do not even know what is happening. At the same time, you feel fear and do not even have the capacity to learn; it is also called the Terror Zone or Fear Zone.
is what is written.
No, no, the Panic Zone (zone 3) is a place where you would think a person would definitely break down.
Actually, I am definitely in stage 3 right now. I am currently working desperately for a crowdfunding project scheduled to start in the middle of this month. Everything is a first for me, and the PC work I am not good at continues endlessly.
Things are starting all at once, and I am the starting point for everything; I have to decide everything myself. Will this make it in time for the scheduled date? Will this crowdfunding be accepted? Everything I think about makes me shudder. Sometimes I am crushed by harsh opinions, sometimes I am moved to tears by passionate support, and sometimes I feel like I am being crushed by the pressure of wondering if it will go well after starting such a significant thing and involving other people.
And in parallel, I am also learning about entrepreneurship. Everything I pick up is something I don't have in my repertoire. This is a first. I have lived abroad, done various jobs, and even studied at university as an adult, but this is different—it is completely new. There are only things I don't know, and the people around me don't know them either.
That is why my head is a mess, and I can only think that I am truly in the Panic Zone.
And this morning, I saw Mr. Motohashi's article. If I had seen this article three days ago, I surely would not have been convinced.
Days spent cutting back on sleep, cutting back on time chatting with my husband, cutting back on bath time, and just facing my PC, iPad, and mobile phone. Such a life suddenly changed last night. I could see a little bit ahead. Far away in the fog where there was nothing, I saw a large tree standing in the light.
Ah, for the first time, I felt like I could manage. Things that had no shape were starting to take shape. I did not break down. That is why I could not forget Mr. Motohashi's article that I saw this morning.
If these chaotic days are a stage that helps me grow, then that must be the case. In these few months of feeling lonely, chaotic, and not knowing where to start, I have managed to move forward by believing in myself.
It has been a few months of crying to people, being helped by people, learning the true kindness of people, meeting people who sought me out, and being taught by people. Have I ever interacted with so many people before? Have I ever experienced such mood swings before? It has also been days where I realized that even after passing the age of sixty, there is still so much I do not know.
The one thing I learned is that I have become more grounded. My way of thinking has also become clearer. In any case, I am looking forward now. Whether it goes well or not, I have run through it with all my might to get this far.
Surely, this is the greatness of stage 3.
In a place where nothing could be seen, everything was a process of trial and error, and the things I encountered and the people I met were completely new. I was able to realize that I am no longer in the world of being an employee. In just a few months, I became grounded. That is what it meant to go out into the world. I learned that. The Panic Zone is formidable!
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*Thank you for reading until the end.