In 1908, Yerkes and Dodson studied how mice reacted to electric shocks as motivators. They found that if the mice were given a mild shock, it wasn’t a significant enough motivator. If they were given an intense shock, it provided motivation, but the mice were too overwhelmed to perform the task properly. Only a medium shock was enough to motivate and act effectively.
Rabbi Josh Flug notes that this phenomenon, which became known as the Yerkes-Dodson law, is applied to many different areas of behavior including discussions about leaving one’s comfort zone. In other words, a medium amount of stress can force one to leave the comfort zone and excel outside of that zone.
The Torah describes Yaakov as an “ish tam.” Rashi says that this means that he was not adept in matters of trickery; What you see is what you get. This is odd when you consider what happens in his life. First he tricks Esav into selling the birthright, then he tricks Yitzchak. Finally, he tricks Lavan with the speckled sheep. How can he be accurately described as an “ish tam”? R. Yechezkel Shraga Halberstam suggests that there is a difference between “tam” and “ish tam.” A tam is someone who is purely simple. He doesn’t know any other way to exist. However, an “ish tam” is someone who is normally a simple person but has mastered the concept so well that he knows how to turn it off. He can be a non-tam when necessary.
We are often tested in life to do things that go against our very character traits.
We all have the ability to break out of our comfort zone and this is part of our life’s mission. Yaakov’s test was to break away from his temimut/innocence time after time, and each of us have tests based on our own character traits. By identifying those tests and finding reasonable ways of breaking out of our comfort zone, these can be real opportunities for growth.
Shabbat Shalom