Confusion is a very difficult mental state to work through. It’s an insulator against good experiences. It’s the opposite of confidence, and confidence is often what we need to enjoy ourselves.
In any circumstance, we can take in more of what we’re experiencing and experience it in the way we want if we’re navigating that circumstance with self-assurance. If we have no idea what’s going on, we’ll retreat to safety practices and shyness, and most of the enjoyable aspects of the experience will be lost to us.
In new situations, it’s easy to feel much more confused than confident. That makes us enjoy new experiences less, which can drive us to associate “new experiences” as a general category with unpleasant emotions. That’s a very dangerous spiral.
Try this: let the confusion wash over you. Remind yourself that you don’t care about the outcome, especially in a new environment. It’s your first time in the new office? So what? You may get lost a little, forget which conference room you’re using today, or need to ask where the bathroom is. You can’t do any of those things badly enough to get fired. So be confident in the confusion – it’s a natural state! And if we worry about it less, it goes away faster.
The Opportunity Machine 