Although it might seem counterintuitive to choose a job that makes you uncomfortable, there are several good reasons why you should. Comfortable jobs are all too often safe options that leave no room for challenges — they’re predictable, and therefore don’t push you to be the best you can be. Here are 10 reasons why even though it might seem scary at first, you should take a risk and go for the job that doesn’t make you comfortable.

1. Personal Growth

You’ll never find out what you’re truly capable of until you push yourself and try new things. Safe jobs can make people complacent, and complacency does not make for a lot of personal growth.

2. Unexpected Skills

Were you previously afraid of public speaking? Take a job in which you’re expected to regularly make presentations or participate in meetings. The more you do it, the more you’ll discover that you’re perfectly capable of doing it — maybe you’re even good at it. You’d never have discovered these hidden talents if you’d taken a comfortable job that didn’t require you to talk in front of other people.

3. It makes You More Willing To Take Risks

After you’ve been pushed outside of your comfort zone, you become more adventurous. Things that used to seem like a big deal don’t seem quite so daunting now, and even if they do, you’ve already gained valuable insight into taking risks. Once you take risks and see how much they pay off, you’ll be much more likely to want more of that payoff in the future and to go for it.

4. It Makes You Tougher

You can stay at a safe job where you know you’ll never be challenged, or you can deliberately put yourself in an uncomfortable environment where you know you’ll be tested. Which one is going to help you grow a thicker skin? Probably the second option. The more you cope with adversity, the stronger you’ll be, making you both more accomplished at problem solving and less sensitive to minor setbacks.

5. You Feel More Accomplished

Accomplishing things you never thought possible makes you feel like a huge success. Even if you always thought you could push yourself to step outside your comfort zone if you really had to, there’s a big difference between hypothetically thinking something and really doing it.

6. Increased Confidence

Along with increased skills comes increased confidence. Instead of worrying about the things you can’t do or the things you’re afraid to do, you’ll become confident in your ability to tackle new challenges and be awesome at it.

7. You Always Do Your Best

Unlike in a comfortable job, where you can skate by doing minimal work and never really feel the pressure to try hard, an uncomfortable job will make you feel challenged to produce your best work. Although it can be stressful always feeling like you have to try harder, work faster and do more, you’ll take more pride in your work.

8. You Never Fall Into A Rut

Comfortable jobs are the definition of a rut. Everything is the same, nothing is unexpected and you always know that not much will be asked of you. This is not a good situation to be in; in fact, it’s very likely to make you into an office zombie. Uncomfortable jobs are often difficult, but at least there’s something new every day.

9. It’s Never Dull

A challenging, dynamic work environment is much more likely to spark your creativity than seven or eight hours of staring numbly at a computer screen.

10. You Expand Your Boundaries

After working at a job that initially made you uncomfortable, you might just find yourself considering options you’d never have considered before taking the job. Working at an uncomfortable job will give you the skills, confidence and experience to continue pursuing more and greater challenges — and succeeding at them.