Build your Discomfort Muscle
Have you felt physical discomfort before (like you stubbed your toe)?
How about emotional discomfort (like you lost a big sales deal)? Of course, we all have.
There’s a hidden superpower in that discomfort that you probably don’t know about
(unless you’ve heard me talk or read my book)…
Research shows pain, whether physical, mental or emotional is processed almost identically by the body and brain. The study is by the University of Michigan. In fact, discomfort is processed so similarly in each of us that you can take Tylenol for emotional pain!
All the disclaimers about that. That’s not the latest Instagram biohack. I’m not a doctor. That’s not a trick you should use. And I don’t even suggest you do that, but I do suggest you take the next step. Which is…
The more you meet discomfort anywhere, the more you’ll be prepared for it everywhere…
That means… the less you hit the snooze button the more courage you have in those tough conversations.
The more courage you have in those tough conversations, the stronger you’ll be getting at the gym.
The stronger you are getting at the gym, the easier it will be to let go of limiting beliefs about yourself or others that are no longer serving you.
Our capacity for discomfort is a muscle you can build. If you want to build your biceps, where do you go? The gym (obviously). If you want to build your resilience, your courage, your breakthrough results, you hunt discomfort no matter what form it’s in.
Realizing this has sent me on a journey to push my perceived limits and confront my greatest fears in just about every way imaginable. I know, good for you, Sterling… To be clear though, this isn’t about me or what I’ve done with discomfort. This is about the hundreds and thousands of others that have declared new goals, big and small, and hunted for the discomfort necessary to achieve them. Here are just a few of them. People have hit new health goals and sales goals. New company goals and personal goals. New career goals and life goals. If you haven’t already, I invite you to join us…
There are only two kinds of people that get to skip out on discomfort and they’re either dead or not born yet. The truth is the only choice we get is how we’re going to handle discomfort. You can wait until discomfort finds you (unprepared, unfit and unwilling). Or, you can go out there and hunt discomfort to live a life forever growing from it.