The Other Side of Discomfort
Growth comes as a result of getting outside our comfort zone
In 2012, I decided I wanted to move from California back to Texas, my home state. While California is a beautiful place with much to offer, I was homesick for the Friendship State. I didn’t have any remaining family in Texas, and not many friends there at the time, but I felt in my spirit that I needed to be there again. So I did something that made me really uncomfortable: I decided to move to Austin without having a job or a place to live.
My brother and I packed up a U-Haul and drove that long stretch of I-10 East from Los Angeles to Austin. Within a week of arriving, I’d moved into a cute apartment in a lovely part of town. And a few weeks later, someone I didn’t know reached out and offered me a job on LinkedIn. (That’s a whole other incredible story.)
I was stunned. I took a leap of faith and did something that really scared me. But it worked out and now I’ve been in Austin for over a decade. It was the right move for me, but I had to work through my discomfort.
I wish I’d known then the coaching skills I now use with my clients to move them from fear into courage. One of the challenges we all face is the fear of leaving our comfort zone. It is a common theme during coaching sessions: the client is afraid of doing something challenging because of the discomfort they will feel.
This quote from Josh Waitzkin, a world-renowned chess player and martial artist, captures why it is essential that we push through the discomfort:
“The key to pursuing excellence is to embrace an organic, long-term learning process, and not life in a shell of static, safe mediocrity. Usually, growth comes at the expense of previous comfort or safety.”
If we want to rise above static, safe mediocrity, and create a career, or a business, or a team, or a life that is truly remarkable, we have to leave behind comfort and safety.
This week, consider where your comfort zone may be holding you back from pursuing your big goals. Make a list of all your yet-realized dreams and then ask yourself why it is they haven’t happened yet. Is it a logistical issue, or is it mental? More often than not, it’s a mental block that impedes your ability to achieve what you want.
Consider the ways fear of discomfort or insecurity could be holding you back. Then make a plan for how you will work with a coach or mentor to overcome your fears. Because true growth awaits you on the other side of discomfort.
Work happy. Live happy. BE happy.
Meredith
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The way we work and build teams is rapidly changing. Leaders often feel unprepared to navigate the transition. As a conscious leadership coach, consultant and communicator, Meredith helps leaders and their teams create new ways of working and relating so they can prepare for the future by consciously co-creating it.
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