“I have no idea what I am doing”
“What should I do next?”
“I don’t know if I am doing this right or wrong.”
“I have been asked to make a presentation and I don’t know how to do it.”
“I feel like an imposter and have constant fear if they are going to find it out.”
If you have these constant questions popping in your head, hang in there, something awesome is going to happen to you.
Why so? Because you are on the path of being comfortable with the discomfort.
“Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you’re doing something others are unlikely to do, because they’re hiding out in the comfortable zone.” — Seth Godin
We all have a definition in our heads of who we are to ourselves and to others. Whenever we come across a situation that threatens that image, we tend to run away, often feeling high inertia. We worked hard to reach where we are and suddenly, exposing our weaknesses, fears might disrupt the social balance we have worked hard to maintain.
This evolutionary pressure often leads us to settle with just being good enough to ensure survival.
What if we lose the idea or the image we have set for ourselves to create a new image? A new you? Continuously stepping outside the comfort zone to expand it.
A question to ask ourselves is, why the pain? Why should one be comfortable with the discomfort?
Discomfort is a catalyst for progress. Progress = Contentment, happiness, security.
When I started to exercise, waking up early in the morning from the usual 9 A.M. to now 6 A.M, I felt the resistance. I used to ask myself every single morning when the damn alarm used to ring out loud, why do I need to wake up? Why do I need to exercise?
Initial catalyst - Money (I had paid a good amount to hire a personal trainer) helped me with the first 2 weeks but after that, the motivation needed to come from within. But what had happened in those two weeks, I had started to see my stamina built-up. On the very first day when I could do only 10 pushups, now I could do 50. Isn’t that magical?
Over time, the comfort of seeing myself grow took over the discomfort of waking up early.
I’ll tell you a secret. No one, not even the body trainers like it at first. Over time, they realized the bigger picture, and then it is too late to turn back.
There are two kinds of people
One - who feel the inertia so high that they love being in the comfortable state yet always remain dissatisfied what their lives
Two - who feel the inertia but like to break it to achieve something new, something better, a better version of themselves and eventually fall in love with the art of breaking the inertia. They get comfortable with the discomfort.
Type 2:-
“Discomfort brings engagement and change. Discomfort means you’re doing something others are unlikely to do, because they’re hiding out in the comfortable zone.” — Seth Godin
Pamela Madsen, author or “Shameless” explains: I don’t think that staying with discomfort comes naturally. And finding ways to be with your discomfort is an essential skill for staying in the race. Any personal growth usually involves some kind of ability to stay with feelings of discomfort. Let’s face it. If you are a seeker of any kind you will push boundaries. When we reach for personal transformation and start pushing edges and boundaries in our lives — we meet “the big work” and feelings of discomfort and wanting to flee from change surface.
‘Discomfort is very much part of my master plan.’ — Jonathan Lethem
‘Don’t limit your challenges; challenge your limits.’ — Jerry Dunn
“If you’re not growing, you’re dying.” -Anthony Robbins
The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and cstart searching for different ways or truer answers.
M. Scott Peck
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