Getting comfortable being uncomfortable is a major key to sustained growth.
Last week we talked about the importance of getting serious with your training in order to see fantastic results. This week’s topic is even deeper.
In order to truly make progress in training and in life, you have to get comfortable being uncomfortable.
Being uncomfortable makes you more creative.
Discomfort makes you more desperate to change your situation.
And being uncomfortable forces you to make moves.
There is one principal that reveals the importance of getting comfortable being uncomfortable.
1) Being Uncomfortable Forces You To Change
I was very uncomfortable when my personal training career started. I did not know how to get clients or how to market myself as a trainer.
It was extremely uncomfortable when my first car broke down.
I had no money or credit to get another one. Being on the bus for a year and not having the autonomy to come and go as you please is humbling.
Stepping on a natural bodybuilding stage for the first time was uncomfortable. I did not have the complete package and I had no skin in the physique game.
I was very uncomfortable performing the Lunges of Death because it is the one workout that actually scared me.
On paper, it is the closest thing to an impossible workout.
The fear and anxiety that led up to the Lunges of Death was otherworldly. I have not felt that sick, anxious feeling for any workout that I have ever completed.
I was very uncomfortable when I was in front of my peers at the Men’s Health Next Top Trainer competition. My discomfort showed through as I made mistakes that I almost never make.
But guess what?
The discomfort of being a lost trainer forced me to dedicate myself to my craft and become a serious fitness professional.
I know the discomfort of having no car forced me to make better financial decisions.
The discomfort of stepping on a natural bodybuilding stage forced me to look at the physique in a completely different way.
The discomfort of performing the Lunges of Death allowed me to see that anything is possible.
I absolutely remember the discomfort of being at the Men’s Health Next Top Trainer competition.
When I competed against the best trainers in the country, it forced me to step my game up. If there was no evolution on my end, I would have been left behind in the dustbins of fitness oblivion.
Discomfort made me a better overall person. I became comfortable with uncomfortable.
When you have situations in life or in training that are not favorable, do not run from them. Embrace them.
They will force you to change and learn more about yourself than you could have ever imagined.
I’m sure it was uncomfortable for Michael Jordan to lose to the Detroit Pistons in the playoffs 3 years in a row.
I’m sure it was uncomfortable for Muhammad Ali to lose his prime years because he stood up for what he believed in.
And I’m 100 percent sure it was uncomfortable for Peyton Manning to rehab from neck surgery.
But when these men faced those uncomfortable situations, they kept moving forward. They turned the discomfort into a positive and that is why they are the ultimate champions.
You might think you are weak, or you cannot do something, but I’m here to tell you that all that self-defeating talk is pure garbage. How do you know what you can do until you try?
Perhaps you might be uncomfortable getting up earlier to make your meals.
Maybe you might be uncomfortable performing workouts that kick the tar out of you.
But if doing things that make you uncomfortable are going to make you better, what are you waiting for? Greatness requires a sacrifice.
Conclusion
Get comfortable being uncomfortable, and I guarantee that your growth as a person will be stupendous. It’s time to step out of your comfort zone and do something that scares you.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman