Get Comfortable with Discomfort

When people say, “I want to start a habit,” what they’re really saying is: “I want something that's difficult to become effortless.” They’re saying: “I want the benefits, but I don't want it to be hard.”

Nothing worthwhile is easy, or everyone would be doing it right? So while many remedies, habits and mindset-shifts in life are deceivingly simple on paper, they are certainly not easy.

For example, if your goal is to write a book, the way to get there is pretty simple: You write every day. But developing the habit of "writing every day" is excruciatingly hard. So when we expect something to be easy and it turns out to be really freakin' hard, we are much more inclined to give up on day three because we didn't show up to write those pages.

However, if we admit that writing a book is going to be hard and that sitting our asses down every day to write is going to be hard also, then we come in with the right expectations and can focus on the process.

And of course, on most days staring at a blank sheet of paper is going to be damn uncomfortable and sometimes every cell of our body will try to lure us away. But accepting that feeling of discomfort as a natural occurrence and doing it anyways, is half the battle.

So I say:

The key to do hard things is to get comfortable with discomfort.