Making Room for Discomfort Leads to Growth

Episode 137

Do you ever think about your comfort zone?

You know, the thing that keeps you doing the same things over and over. And helps you stay calm, minimize anxiety, and do the things you need to do. 

I think of the comfort zone as being like a cocoon that surrounds our bodies. When we get into situations where we are uncomfortable, scared, or unfamiliar we start to experience negative emotions. Sometimes we’re afraid. Other times we get angry. We experience shifts in our baseline emotional state. 

Rather than focusing on the discomfort that comes when we push up against our comfort zones, I see these states as opportunities. If we can be courageous and push passed these discomforts we can experience growth.

The opposite is also true. If we continuously retreat from discomfort and interpret it only as danger, we miss out on opportunities for growth. While this kind of living can promote safety, it also promotes uniformity. 

If an unexamined life is not worth living, we should probably be looking at discomfort as an opportunity instead of a warning. 

In this episode I argue that being uncomfortable promotes personal growth and that we can learn to welcome discomfort as a guide.

I hope you’ll check out this episode, and search the other 150+ episodes on the Knowledge + Experience = Wisdom podcast or YouTube channel.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/530563/13370388

https://youtu.be/gVmw1jBl7Ho