Tag: discomfort

Facing discomfort

If you’re not good at something, stop avoiding it. Charge ahead into it!

It feels uncomfortable to be bad at something, especially when you are used to being average or above average in most things that you care about. But if you keep avoiding that which you are not good at, it will only hide your weakness for so long. Eventually that weakness will be exposed, often times in front of many people (causing even more embarrassment).

It’s best to just face your discomfort and/or your perceived weaknesses head on… Because really, why are you avoiding it if not for either fear of other peoples perceptions or your fear of being uncomfortable?

Big fish in a little pond

It can feel good being a big fish in a little pond. Everything you do is recognized. You’re respected and have the admiration of others. It’s a nice ego boost.

But if you really want to put things in perspective, you need to go to a bigger pond to see that there are other fish out there that a bigger, faster, etc.

Don’t limit yourself by staying comfortable. If you’re not willing to test the waters elsewhere, you’ll likely stay in your comfort zone and not grow to your full potential.

In the end, you’ll have to make a decision – do you want to stay where you’re on a pedestal or do you want to find new challenges?

Will you choose to be comfortable or to grow?

“Comfort makes cowards of us all.” Michael Gerber in “The E-Myth Revisited”

How true this is. We use comfort as a crutch. We don’t like being uncomfortable and, as a result, try to get back to that comfortable place. But staying in your comfort zone leads to mediocrity. Staying in your comfort zone leads to complacency. It keeps you hidden from the world. Stay hidden, keep your opinions to yourself, and you might as well consider yourself invisible. That’s fine if you want average. It all starts with a mindset though. Embrace discomfort and you will be on the path to self-improvement.

The dichotomy of comfort

We are creatures of comfort. We like comfort. When we’re comfortable, we feel content. These are the positive aspects of comfort.

But if we’re not careful, striving just to be comfortable will more than likely mean striving to be mediocre.

We get the most out of ourselves when we push ourselves past our comfort zone. The only way to get better is by mastering the old while still experiencing the new. We have to fall down to get back up. We need to face our fears and overcome adversity. The more we learn to handle, the more unbreakable we make ourselves.

So while we aim for comfort for a little while, just make sure you’re not staying there too long. Get comfortable being uncomfortable and you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

Courage over comfort

Choose courage over comfort. Just be aware that, as Brene Brown points out in her book Dare to Lead, ”if you choose courage, you will absolutely know failure, disappointment, setback, even heartbreak.”

Courage is tough. It is not for the faint of heart. But, in the long run, the more you choose to be courageous and stay true to yourself, the less regrets you’ll have in life.