Comfort is killing your creativity!
Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
Most of what you know you need to do (that you're not doing) involves a certain amount of discomfort.
So with this knowledge, rather than avoiding action get comfortable with the fact you're going to feel uncomfortable and do stuff any way. The more you get DISCOMFORTABLE (comfortable with discomfort) the task, the more you're going to flourish and take the action you need to take to get your endeavour done.
A large part of the discomfort for many of us, is the fear of judgement of others. Rather than avoid this... get comfortable with that discomfort. Sure, not everyone is going to love what you're proposing... whether that’s telling your family you’re going to climb a mountain or sharing your first draft of your novel with some academic friends... Sit with this discomfort and see what they have to say. When we're with the discomfort we tend to be less defensive... we begin to notice that much of what people say is helpful... or perhaps they’re just revealing their own fears. Either way their feedback can inspire us into further action, rather than, as it often does, stopping us in our tracks.
Connected to this we also experience the discomfort of getting ‘it wrong’... we are confronted by the blank sheet, the phone call we have to make... terrified what we’ll do will not be ‘right’. As we’ll explore later in this chapter, if you can get comfortable with the discomfort of ‘getting it wrong’, you will soon be evolving towards doing things more effectively.
Remember You cannot learn to ride a bike without getting comfortable with the discomfort of falling off. It is the same for most of what you’re up to, or would like to be up to.
DON’T JUST READ… TAKE ACTION
So now it’s time for YOU to step into the discomfortable. In this exercise we want you to make one phone call to one person and request something of them that will in some way help you progress your endeavour.
It could be... asking for a donation, asking for feedback or advice, asking for work... anything that will progress your endeavour, and make you feel a little uncomfortable.
They may say no to your request and that’s ok. Part of being out there and getting discomfortable is accepting rejection.
Once you’ve completed this task, notice how you feel. What came up? Share in the comments.
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Find out more at our fun, free and potentially life-changing introduction workshops!
