When noise shows up, that’s when information is born.
The comfort zone is where everything feels familiar, no effort needed—barely any information comes out of there. The learning zone is where information flows the most, but noise comes with it. That noise feels uncomfortable, awkward. Like when you read a book or watch a documentary, your head is full of ideas, but the moment you try to say them out loud, nothing comes out right—you just can’t express it clearly and coherently. That uncomfortable feeling? It’s actually a good sign. If you can catch it, it’s telling you: this is your weak spot, this is exactly what you need to learn or practice. And it helps to know the difference—learning is going from 0 to 1, practice is strengthening what’s already there, making it sharper, stronger, so the weak spot stops being weak.
This way of thinking applies to everything in your life.
If you hear the noise, please get excited. That’s the sound of growth.
But also, be careful. If you push past the learning zone into the panic zone—where your mind and body both scream “nope”—that’s agony, and you really don’t need to force yourself through that.