The one about discomfort
Discomfort. It’s something that we experience every day — the temperature in our car on a hot summer day, the nagging itch on the back of our neck after a mosquito bite, the semi-annual conversation with your boss during a performance review.
It is a well-worn cliche that we should step outside of our comfort zone. We understand this intellectually. But why do we shy away from discomfort?
As humans, we are wired to seek comfort. This made sense when food was scarce, and there was no guarantee that we would have a warm place to sleep. But as life gets more comfortable with food available at our fingertips and endless hours of entertainment in our pockets, we’re starting to descend into a crisis of comfort.
Yet discomfort is what pushes us to adapt, to evolve, and to grow.
We’ve all seen before-and-after photos of athletes who went too deep into feeling comfortable after retirement. We’ve all learned about businesses (and even countries) that have been too comfortable with their market-leading position, only to have a start-up or technology upend them. It’s not a pretty picture.
But how do I ensure that this does not happen to me? How do I lean into the feeling of discomfort? How do I actually use discomfort to guide my decisions?
This is what I want to figure out this year.
For me, September marks the start of the year. September is when summer vacations come to an end, school starts up again, and the leaves start to change colours.
If anything, this is the perfect time to set a New Year’s resolution. By the time January 1 comes around, you will already be four months into your journey.
Read about my past resolutions here:
And if you have any books, resources or thoughts on my theme of “discomfort,” please let me know.
