“I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.” ~ Michael Phelps

We all love to be comfortable, not just physically but emotionally too. Habits are difficult to break because it is comfortable to rely on tried and tested behaviours, good or bad. Some decisions are hard to make because it makes us uncomfortable. If you think about it, anything worth going after is almost guaranteed to come with a level of discomfort.

The idea of getting a new job with better prospects and pay is uncomfortable because you might hate the people there, getting promoted to manager is definitely going to be uncomfortable because your colleagues may hate you plus who has time to deal with all that pressure, going to gym is uncomfortable because let’s face it, the hardest things those buns have had to do was sit on the couch. The idea of starting your own business is uncomfortable because your friends might have a laugh about your lack of expertise. You get the idea.

When we feel uncomfortable about making changes, we then come up with a secondary reason why we should wait to do something. If you ever found yourself saying, “this is not the right time” or “next year, I will do this next year” or “I do not have enough money” or “I need to get certified first, but now is not the right time”.

These are simply excuses we come up with because change is scary. The unknown is frightening to us because we like certainties and when you make any changes, no result is guaranteed. Can you imagine Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “I can’t act in a movie yet because I need to improve my English first.” How would that have impacted his career? Or what if he had put off competing in Mr Olympia because he may not measure up to the others.  He had a vision for himself and his life and he made sure he reached for it whether he felt ready. I am sure it wasn’t comfortable for an Austrian guy with a heavy accented English to go to America, without much money to his name, not knowing anyone, not having any certainty that he will ever win or succeed in any way but despite the discomfort, he went and he conquered the bodybuilding world, movie industry and politics.

When I became a general manager of a company, I sure as hell did not felt ready. It was uncomfortable because I felt inadequate. I felt inadequate in experience and qualifications and if I have to be honest, I also felt like a little girl starting out in her career as opposed to a young woman who has been in the corporate world for more than a decade who has managed teams and managed projects. I felt like a fish out of water especially when I had to present my first quarterly review of the business, I was nervous, I felt like a schmuck, it was uncomfortable.

But guess what, I did that review and many other reviews after that. Not surprisingly, the world did not collapse! I have had to hire people, fire people and deal with the internal politics and of course, managing the business. At tradeshows, people were surprised to learn that I was the GM because according to them “I didn’t look like it”. Still, none of these discomforts stopped me from being the GM just as none of your discomforts should stop you from achieving everything you want.

Here’s what you need to do today. If you have resisted doing something that would help you get closer to your goals, I want you to really feel the discomfort and ask yourself why? Are you afraid that people will judge you? Are you afraid of disappointment? Or truthfully, are you afraid of hard work? Discomfort is there to tell us that this thing that we want to achieve is somehow hitting us close to our hearts and whilst your first reaction is to run away from it, embrace it, and start making those strides towards your dreams.

Meanwhile, if you want some help with gaining the courage to take action, make sure you download this free ebook right here.