Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

If you spend any time in the business world, you will start to hear people saying “you have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” But if it’s uncomfortable, how do you get comfortable with it?

Basically, try new things?… ok, I got it.

Oh, it’s more than that?

Put into practice it’s a whole new ballgame. Especially if there are things that are particularly uncomfortable for you.

For example, if you hate speaking in public. That first presentation is going to be terrifying… but if it’s something you want to, or need to do, the more you present, the more familiar and “comfortable” you begin to be with that discomfort, and the more successfully you will present.

Last year I ran a Tough Mudder event, and one of the obstacles is that you have to go underneath a barrier in ice water. It was going to be uncomfortable. So I got comfortable with being uncomfortable. I practiced holding my hands in ice water. I practiced walking across the chilly creek by our house. And when the event came, yes, it was still uncomfortable, but I was ready for it.

So don’t let the fear or the discomfort of that first presentation or that first race make you give up, or vow to never present again, or make excuses so you don’t have to do it in the first place.

Embrace the challenge.

Get uncomfortable.

Practice getting uncomfortable.

Get comfortable with it.