Right at the Edge

The Hotpot | January 2026 | By Lisanne

16.1

We’re often at the perimeter of our own ability—usually right at the edge of what we know how to do.

This perimeter looks like a finish line, but it’s a boundary that shifts the moment we touch it.

What felt difficult becomes normal. What once required courage turns into routine. The moment we master how to walk, it stops challenging us.

The edge moves, and we arrive, eventually, at our new comfort zone.

Discomfort is the phase before competence—when we don’t yet have language for what we’re doing, or any proof that it will work.

Uncertainty is quite uncomfortable.

And yet, a lot of meaningful work seems to happen right there—before confidence arrives. When we’re still beginners.

Maybe the question isn’t how to feel ready.
Maybe it’s whether we’re willing to stay with that discomfort a little longer.

Thank you for reading! The journal prompt of today:

Where could you try something new, even if it feels risky?

Let me know in the comments!

Curious to see more reflections like this? Click through to see the rest of the series on emotional competency. I’d love to hear what resonates with you.

Always moving out into territory you don’t know about.

What’s interesting isn’t that you don’t know what’s next. It’s that knowing would mean you stopped moving.

They fear the exposure of not-yet-knowing.

It’s whether you’re willing to keep stepping into places that reward you with forward motion.