Embracing unease. Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable

Psychologically it takes at least 21 days for a human to become comfortable with something new. For example, after face surgery it took 21 days for patients to become familiar with their new face, according to plastic surgeon/psychologist Maxwell Maltz in his book Psycho-Cybernetics. These subjects, when looking in the mirror, felt a sense of unease about themselves.

There are always parts of us that we are getting used to. That’s just human nature. And I think those of us that enjoy that fact are the ones who continually learn and thrive. By learning we are constantly changing ourselves and constantly a little bit at unease. We accept this level of unease throughout our lives.

Hell, we’re the ones that seek out extra unease at times!

Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable is a trait that leads to success in my eyes. Even when speaking about more down to earth things, such as exercise. Getting into an exercise routine can be very hard, but looking at it objectively its not hard at all. It is only the fear of being uncomfortable that stops people from stepping into the gym.

Having a bad day? Chances are you will be even less likely to put yourself into an uncomfortable place.

If you are someone who revels in being uncomfortable, you will have the power to build those hard to make habits when others are building excuses.

You will be able to say “Listen here Self, you knew going into this that it would be scary, so buck up or shut up.”

Being uncomfortable isn’t all bad though. I’m not sure many people would consider being strapped into a plastic seat in order to be thrown around by a few G’s of force “comfortable”, and yet people pay hundreds of dollars to visit theme parks.

Artists, entrepreneurs, or any builder of things gets a similar excitement from the uncomfortableness of working on something new. We don’t know exactly what we’re doing. There are background voices spewing fear laden propaganda in our heads, but we are driven by the new worlds we are about to create. We constantly turn any fear or doubt into excitement.

Embrace unease. Learn to be comfortable feeling uncomfortable. Push your boundaries each and every day as you master your own mind. Don’t listen to the fear laden propaganda, internal or external. You know who you truly wish to be, so go be that person.