This paradoxical way of thinking can help you build resilience

If you avoid discomfort too often and for too long, this tendency can become a negative coping strategy that hurts more than it helps.

Nobody likes to feel uncomfortable. Well, maybe there are a few masochists out there, but for the most part, discomfort is something that most of us avoid. Ironically, by avoiding discomfort though, we’re ultimately left with more of it. And it becomes debilitating for us individually and as companies.

From an evolutionary perspective, avoiding discomfort makes a lot of sense. The discomfort of walking toward a lion on the Savanna didn’t end well for our ancestors. As far back as Darwin, biologists studied discomfort as being a driving force powering predatory avoidance, resource gathering, and overall survival tactics that have been critical to keeping our species (and most others) alive. It was literally what caused us to deal with the necessities of survival.

While discomfort may have driven our ancestor’s survival, today it’s a different story. Modernity has ushered in an era where most of us are rarely in life-threatening situations. We’re provided with the luxury of not having to deal with discomfort because it’s often not critical to our survival.

We can…