Getting Uncomfortable

We spent last weekend in St. Louis. And while most of the people there were wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts, I am from Phoenix. And I was cold.

I wore a jacket everywhere we went. And I turned on the seat warmer whenever we were in the car.

I love the seat warmer feature. Even if I am the slightest bit chilly, I turn it on. Just a couple of degrees off my ideal temperature and I reach for the seat warmer. I love being that comfortable.

In many ways, most of us are getting worse and worse at being uncomfortable. Humans are constantly solving for discomfort and our endless ingenuity is making life easier and easier. And really, that’s kind of awesome.

But sometimes our comfortable lives make us forget that when it comes to our goals, discomfort is required and we are a little surprised by the pain.

We want to lose weight without changing our diet or “having to think about it.” We want to share our work without being rejected or feeling inadequate and vulnerable. We want to love unconditionally without having to work at it or give up our expectations. Whatever it is, we want it to be easy and our brain sort of thinks it should be.

But change is uncomfortable and because it is always optional, our brain never wants to do it. It wants to stop. It wants to quit. It tells us it’s too hard.

But notice that our expectation of comfort is the only thing getting in our way.

The more comfortable you can be with discomfort, the more access you have to something different than you are getting now. Your current life is what you get when you are comfortable. Your dreams are what you get when you are willing to be uncomfortable.

If you want something different in your life, the only price is discomfort.

And I think it’s totally worth paying.

xo,

April

P.S. This is why I love having a coach. When my brain says, “This is painful. We should stop,” my coach says, “Nothing has gone wrong. Keep going.” When my brain says, “This is too hard,” my coach says, “It’s supposed to be.” When my brain says, “We don’t have to do any of this,” my coach says, “You’re right, you don’t. But do you want to?” If you want a coach to help you manage the discomfort of creating your dreams, you can sign up for a free coaching consultation here.