We all love our comfort. The safe zones that protect us from stepping too far in the outer zones. That’s why we call it the comfort zone. It offers us protection. It gives us an extra layer of safeguards that keep us from getting rejected or failing. Many of us prefer comfort over the uncomfortable. 

Here’s the problem, if you want to become anybody you have to get used to becoming uncomfortable. You want to start a company get used to becoming uncomfortable. Being comfortable stops us from going after what we want. Why? Because we’re used to certainty. Used to set up and the obstacles we have to face. We’re used to relying on pillars. What happens if we take that away? What happens if you are starting from scratch? It’s uncomfortable, right?

More than that it feels as if you have nothing to protect you. You have to face things by yourself and that isn’t easy. But it is possible because we all have to start from scratch. We all have to climb the first step to get to the top. That’s life. You can’t escape that. You have to embrace it. As painful as the realization is becoming everything starts with the first step. It also starts with becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable.

Start

“If you never start, you never will,” a friend said that to me when I was thinking of starting my business.

“I have no idea where to start from.”

“That’s the point, isn’t it? Starting is scary, but it needs to be done. You can’t allow fear to stop you from going after what you want.”

So, I listened to her advice and I did just that. I started. The hardest thing to do is start something especially if you no idea what you are doing. It’s uncomfortable. But this is a start we all need in the beginning. In the beginning, it will be uncomfortable. You have to unlearn certain things and figure out what steps you should take next.

I had to unlearn that I didn’t need a business degree to start a business. I didn’t need to have it all figured all out and I had to become comfortable with being uncomfortable. When people would ask me questions I had to find the answers for myself. But my friend was right, if I never started I never would.

Your life begins today. So, often we push what we want to the back of our mind. Whether it’s procrastination or fear, time slips by and it gets harder to start. Go for what you want today because time has a way of making us forget. 

Don’t dare quit

Don’t quit. Our default is to quit when it gets hard. Life is a beautiful mess with obstacles. It is so easy to quit and throw in the towel. But quitting will become easier if you choose to allow yourself to quit. One of the most uncomfortable things I had to do was wake up early. It sounds easy. But I’m a heavy sleeper. 

If I had chosen to quit I would never have broken through. For weeks, I had to figure what would work for me. Nothing seemed to work the way I wanted it. Not the five alarms I set or my nighttime routine. I had to change it. In time, I figured it out. We all have excuses for why we quit. It’s too hard. I’ve no idea where to start from. I don’t have money. But you can’t give up because once you do that will become part of your life. It will become your default. When life gets hard you’ll quit. Every decision you make, there’ll be an easier option.

You’ll never go far if you always quit when it gets hard. 

“It’s too hard. Nothing seems to work out the way I want it to,” I’d complain to my father.

“Nothing worthwhile is easy.”

He had a point. I took what he said to heart, if it was easy then I’d never go far so I had to learn that the challenges make it worthwhile.  Keep moving forward and you will realize that challenges make life worthwhile. Becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable makes the journey so satisfying. It might not feel like that at the moment, but you will realize that if you never started you would have never learned what you do know now.

Relish in your suck factor

When you start anything new you will suck. No way you can run from that, but that doesn’t mean it will always be like that. There will be times when you don’t suck. You will have your ups and downs. It will be uncomfortable at first. That’s why you have to embrace becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. 

The one thing you have to do is appreciate sucking. When I first started blogging I sucked. That isn’t news, everyone goes through that. At first, they suck. Think of anyone who was ever great. Picasso. Einstein. Richard Branson. Madonna. The list goes on. They all have one thing in common, they sucked at something. It could have been marketing, personal branding, or even what they are known for. Maybe, their suck factor is different from ours, but the emotion is still the same. They could have felt they weren’t as good enough as they wanted to be.

What matters is they changed their perspective and embraced what made them. They embraced becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. That changed their whole lives. They were no longer playing defensive, but offensive and it cultivated an inner strength that they didn’t have before. 

If you want to be great then you must do what they do. Relish in your suck factor. It’s okay to not be as good as you want to be. You can improve on that. Those who refuse to relish in their suck factor will forever remain stuck. Not because of a lack of potential, but because you can’t improve if you believe there’s no room for improvement. 

Also Related: How to Get Good At Things By Being Bad First

Find your community

Okay, so this took some time for people to figure out. There are seven billion people in the world. A lot of people won’t agree with your viewpoint, but they will be people who do. It’s all about finding your group of people. This will take some getting used to. The whole point of becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable is you got to change the way you do certain things.

For example, you got to venture out of your bubble. Join groups whether that’s Facebook or conversations on Clubhouse. This won’t be easy because you are used to dealing with your friend group. It doesn’t mean you should let go of your friends, but you need to prop yourself up. People who will believe and push you to do what you want. You can’t change your life if you aren’t surrounded by people who motivate you.

Will all this be hard? Yes. At first, it will be difficult. But that’s the beauty of life, beauty can be found in moments of absolute pain and the uncomfortable.

Celebrate your small milestones

For me, this was hard to get my mind around. Every milestone you make should be celebrated. Take the opportunity to embrace becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. Yes, for many of us this is uncomfortable. Celebrating the small milestones. My English lecturer once told me that any achievement is a sign of success. Didn’t understand that. Now, I do. Celebrate waking up 30 minutes earlier. Celebrate saying yes to yourself.

You should celebrate standing up for your beliefs. When you choose to celebrate every small milestone, you are opening yourself to opportunities and becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. It might take time for you to incorporate this into your daily life. But once you do, you will discover you’re happier and achieve more at a faster rate. Why because when you notice your improvements this motivates you. You can’t see your progress if you choose not to celebrate your small milestones.

Push yourself further

Are you uncomfortable yet?

If not then you need to find ways to become uncomfortable. Crazy. I know. We all need to be reminded that becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable will help us to grow. You can’t grow if you don’t push yourself to be uncomfortable. Maybe, that’s appearing on camera or working on your Instagram game, or learning a new skill.

Keep pushing yourself and you will find a rhythm. This will help you to progress fast. It will be hard, I get that, but you must always push yourself. You need to confront what fears you have. When you do that you will excel. Keep reminding yourself whether something makes you uncomfortable. Choose to push yourself further. I’ve had to learn that often we need to not cling to what is known, but push ourselves further. Many will look at this as stepping out of your comfort zone. That’s what it is. You have to step out of your comfort zone. Embrace the unknown. It’s not as scary as you think it is. 

 Also Related: 6 Brilliant Ways to Master Self-Sabotage

Rinse. Repeat

One thing you need to do to keep progressing is to rinse and repeat. Keep working on becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable. This is going to work in your favor. Successful people are constantly working on themselves. You need to do the exact thing. Work on yourself. So, here’s what you got to do. Start working on yourself or a project. Don’t quit when it gets hard. It is a guarantee that it will get tedious, but don’t allow it to. If you have to relish sucking at first. That is normal and will help you improve. No one starts being good at something. The first time you do something, it won’t be easy or you won’t be as good as you can be.

The next step is to find your community that will motivate you. Push yourself further so that you can achieve more. Then you rinse and do it all over again. This is how you can become comfortable with the uncomfortable. 

What is your main takeaway from this and how will you become comfortable with the uncomfortable? Please comment below.

                                         Keep Pushing

                                                          Vanessa