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The hallmark of purposeful or deliberate practice is that you try to do something you cannot do -- that takes you out of your comfort zone -- and that you practice it over and over again, focusing on exactly how you are doing it, where you are falling short, and how you can get better. Real life -- our jobs, our schooling, our hobbies -- seldom gives us the opportunity for this sort of focused repetition, so in order to improve, we must manufacture our own opportunities.

The best way to build an emotional muscle, much like a physical muscle, is to push past your current comfort zone and then recover.

Yes is how you get your first job, and your next job, and your spouse, and even your kids. Even if it's a bit edgy, a bit out of your comfort zone, saying yes means you will do something new, meet someone new, and make a difference. --Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google

With deliberate practice, however, the goal is not just to reach your potential but to build it, to make things possible that were not possible before. This requires challenging homeostasis -- getting out of your comfort zone -- and forcing your brain or your body to adapt. But once you do this, learning is no longer just a way of fulfilling some genetic destiny; it becomes a way of taking control of your destiny and shaping your potential in ways that you choose.

"Do something you're afraid of every day."--often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Twentysomethings who don't feel anxious and incompetent at work are usually overconfident or underemployed.