2 minutes
Three strategies for being more comfortable with discomfort.
This was originally published on the Claris Consulting blog and is reprinted with permission.
We all have a comfort zone, a place where things are known, safe and predictable. However, remaining in comfort can become the greatest inhibitor to accelerated performance. Without the discomfort of learning something new and growing beyond our current capabilities, we will not experience the greatest rewards possible.
A client once said that the last three months of our working together were the most uncomfortable three months of his professional life. We specifically discussed the level of skill his leadership team had in being a magnet for top-tier talent, executing on strategic initiatives faster and more reliably, and fostering the mindset of customer excellence throughout the organization.
These conversations led him to realize that he had the wrong people in the right roles and, in turn, that his hopes for higher performance would be stalled if he didn’t make significant changes. This meant asking several employees to leave.
This CEO accepted that his dreams of elevated performance were dependent upon his willingness to make uncomfortable decisions and asked for ideas about how he could become comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. I suggested the following three strategies.
1. Link your discomfort with your purpose. The most important growth catalyst is to focus on the idea, hope, dream or aspiration you have for your work or personal life. What is the one idea you will not tolerate leaving unfinished or undone? Hold this firmly in your mind when it comes to moving outside your comfort zone—because without it, change becomes intellectual and not emotional. Feelings propel you to change faster than facts.
2. Associate discomfort with growth. This strategy is mental jujitsu. Whenever you feel discomfort, it is a reminder that you are poised for growth or undergoing growth—poised for growth in the sense that you’re confirming the old way of operating is no longer working or that you are undergoing change and growing. Both send the message that change is underway.
3. Fail forward faster. Discomfort doesn’t have to last indefinitely. Remind yourself that pain and discomfort last as long as it takes to achieve the result you want. The faster you make mistakes, learn from them and regroup, the faster you’ll eliminate the discomfort.
Which of these three strategies will serve you best this week?
Hugh Blane is president of Claris Consulting, a leadership advisory firm in Seattle, and author of 7 Principles of Transformational Leadership: Creating the mindset of passion, innovation and growth.
