Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable - It's where you grow

Look around you. Can you see anyone who has achieved greatness by staying comfortable? Printed in bold letters on the wall of the studio at my local gym are the words: “Change Begins Outside Your Comfort Zone.”

I looked at this quote for years while doing high-intensity cardio and considered the meaning. It was a source of great motivation and contemplation, while I was trying to inhale enough oxygen to power myself to lunge, jump, run, and kick my way to an amazing body. I considered that when we are trying to change our bodies, there is no way we can build muscle or increase our cardiovascular fitness without being outside of our comfort zone. Such is the truth for anything new we want to achieve in our lives.

To be well-known in your field, you have to put your ideas out to the world. It may be writing a book, posting on Twitter or LinkedIn, doing a video on Instagram or TikTok; it may be doing television or podcast interviews: Oprah Winfrey, Brené Brown, Simon Sinek, are all people who have managed to be known for what they know but have had to get comfortable being uncomfortable to do so. The same is true for you. If you wish to have a career of note where you make a difference, you will need to get uncomfortable. Sitting in the same seat, feeling somewhat stuck, will not get you where you want to go. Recognising that you are stuck in your job, or worse yet, spiralling downward to complete disengagement, is an important step, so you can give yourself a shove, to make a shift in your career.

One thing I know for sure is that life is too short to be languishing in a job that you are not engaged with or challenged by. So why are there so many people who are doing just that? I have given this topic a lot of thought, called on my years of managing talent, and have determined it is a combination of factors, but the challenge of stepping out of the comfort zone is what stops most people from changing. It is also the ability of people to sit with the discomfort and evaluate how they feel about it. Yoga taught me how to hold space in discomfort. When you can do that with the yoga poses it is a small change to do it with your emotions through meditation. I was teaching a yoga class, relaying this exact topic. One of my students told me that he was in pain after holding a pose for a couple of minutes I gently asked if he was in pain (not acceptable) or just discomfort (what we are actually striving for) to which he replied, ”Let’s just call it intense discomfort.” He was a regular and kept coming back for his dose of discomfort as he knew that it was helping his flexibility overall, and his mind was benefiting.

Changing your job is scary. It is easier to sit there, take home the regular pay cheque, and pretend that you are not being affected by your lack of engagement in the role. However, you are kidding yourself, the only way that situation improves is by you doing something to improve it. I know that you need courage and energy to make a move, and more importantly, you will need to do some soul-searching to determine exactly what you want in your new role, but it will certainly be worth it.

It is helpful to try to gamify your change. It may not work out, yeah, so what you gave it a shot, just because you make a change, it doesn't mean it will work out perfectly every time. You will, however, have had a learning experience that has given you more data points to determine what you do want. It is rare that opportunity knocks on the door of a disengaged person sitting in their comfort zone. Get out there, make a change, and make the most of this one beautiful life that you have been blessed with. Your career is in your hands; it is up to you to create what you desire. Do not wait for your boss, your colleague, or your rival in the next cubicle to make it possible for you to achieve your dreams... Get comfortable being uncomfortable... I can help.