Do + discomfort, or don’t do …

… those are your only options.

I’ve written before (see 'What do basketball and career change at 50+ have in common?') about how the ability to live with feeling uncomfortable might be our best asset and open us up to new experiences and possibilities, within work and beyond. 

I therefore enjoyed hearing Sian Leah Beilock, President of Dartmouth College, talking with Adam Grant (on his WorkLife podcast 27 March 2023) about discomfort and anxiety. As she says:

“if you had no anxiety, you’d be dead, first of all, right? [T]his is part of being aroused and being alive. I think we have to get better and more accustomed to just being uncomfortable […] Being uncomfortable I think is a sign that you’re going to grow and that there’s something there and something that you care about, and [...] reminding yourself of that is not a bad thing.”

Yes, anxiety and discomfort are signs that you’re actually making the change rather than simply playing with the idea of it. 

And that you’re prepared to accept that you can’t anticipate everything that comes with trying to make that change.

As Theodore Zeldin writes (An Intimate History of Humanity, 1998): ‘courage invariably leads to unexpected results; that is what defines it, the willingness to meet the unexpected.’ 

So grasp that nettle.  It'll sting, but it’ll be worth it, and as a bonus you’ll know that you’re alive. 

Photo: Matthew Feeney on Unsplash