You don’t want to start a task? Let me tell you why it is a damn good idea to start anyways!
Do you know these moments when you just do not want to start a task? it makes you cringe internally, it makes you uncomfortable, you just really do not like to do that? But at the same time you know that you want to do it? But just cannot get started?
I know that very well. Exactly that happened to me this morning. I had promised myself to do one hour of sport each day. It did not matter what kind of sport, but it had to be one hour, 60 minutes to be precise.
The last days it was snowing, there was ice on the sidewalks and I had not gone out: “It is too cold outside to do sports”, I told myself and “I could get hurt and fall down” and “I really do not want to, this will be so uncomfortable”. So I stayed in my apartment for three full days without any outdoors sport. Instead, I tried to do some internal sports, but it felt difficult to motivate myself. Instead of running, I decided to do some exercises. Every some minutes I would stop working (with a timer set for 45 minutes) and do a 5–10 minutes workout via a Youtube video. It kind of worked, but it also was a bit tedious. Image how often you have to do that during the day to reach 60 minutes? I realized that each and every day in the evening. “Oh wow, I only did 35 minutes today, it felt much more” would I tell myself. Because 35 minutes already are 7 times 5 minutes. So I did workout 7 times, but still, I only ended up with 35 minutes.
Now you could say, isnt’t that a good habit, doing sports and doing movements throughout the day? Sure, you coud, but it is also tedious to do only that and quite frustrating over time.
What made me realize it’s time for a change?
And then I realized that all these sentences I told myself are indeed true to some extend. It is cold outside, it may be dangerous to run on ice and it is uncomfortable to go outside with these temperatures. But on the other hand, there are many other uncomfortable situations as well in life and there are many people that go running at these temperatures as well. Why do I let myself stop me from something I know that will be beneficial and that I know will make me proud when done, simply because I tell myself about all the things that could go wrong and may make me uncomfortable.
To be outstanding: get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
This quote came to my mind. “To be outstanding: get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” And it resonated deeply. With the sentences I told myself, I ran away from exactly those things I wanted most. It was comfortable to tell me that there is no way to go out and run today. But on the other hand, I knew that when I would go through that uncomfortable feeling in a first moment, and then run anyways, that I would be massively proud of myself.
So I decided to run. And believe me, damn, was that uncomfortable.
The first 15 minutes or so, I was freezing, my hands were freezing, it was difficult to find a good running mode to run on the icy sidewalks. I had to go much slower than I tend to go, and had to be careful much more.
Every inch of my body wanted to stop. “It’s so comfortable inside”, “it is warm”, “aren’t 15 minutes enough”, “come on, you will get cold” did I tell myself.
And then, what happened then?
But then things changed. My body warmed up, I figured out how to safely run on the ice and how to find a good pace. I started to enjoy what I was doing. It felt good and the longer I ran the more amazing it felt. I came closer to my goal, I knew I would be able to run my 60 minutes, I did not fee the urge to look at my watch every two minutes. I simply ran and enjoyed it. I had some great insights along the way for myself, I tried a new running method that I want to try again the next time I run and in the end, when I arrived back home, I did not run only 60 minutes but 75 minutes without even realizing that it became more than what I planned to run.
I felt so damn good afterwards. I was proud of myself. And yes, it was uncomfortable, it was a bit slippery at times, but I managed and learned a lot.
What does it teaches us and how can we profit?
Let’s go through the uncomfortable more often. And accept that when we really want something and it feels cringy and uncomfortable right now, then these are the moments we should give the most attention. These are the moments that show us what we really care about. Because we deeply want it but at the same time it makes us uncomfortable: it shows us, that a lot is at stake. And I believe, that for our mind, what is most at stake is that we change in the process. Our mind loves to have us being safe, being the same we always are, it knows us in that way, it knows the certainty, that is predictable. If we change our routines, if we change something about what we always did, this brings not only one uncomfortable moment with it, but many, and that is not what our brain loves. So it is uncomfortable at the start. It is cringy. But it is the only thing we can do: Go through the uncomfortable, because on the other side lies something that is worth all the pain and cringyness beforehand: we can be proud of ourselves! We achieved what we wanted to achieve. we did what we wanted to achieve. We acted how we wanted to act.
So what can you do to bring some more uncomfortable things into your life ;)
Think of it. Would it not be cool to bring more of that stuff into our lifes? To build the muscle of going through uncomfortable stuff that brings us to another side that is brighter, more beautiful and gives us this innate trust and confidence in ourselves, as we know: I did something that I really did not wanted to do right now, but wanted to do kind of much more in the long-term, but I stopped complaining and cringing and just did that. And now I feel so damn good afterwards!
Look for these moments that give you that feeling of proudness. What where these moments? Cherish them, and look for similar moments, where you are first highly uncomfortable, but at the same time super excited about. This can be anything:
I want to share that innovation idea I have in my team, but what if it is not good enough and they will laugh at me?
I want to speak to this hot guy I always see in the train, but this will be weird
I want to run a 10k race, but I have not trained for years and I can only run 2 minutes right now, no, I think this is not worth it
I want to change jobs, but I don’t know where to start, and here I have that security, why should I change, that does not make sense
I dislike meat deeply, but I am afraid to fully eat vegetarian, as people may make fun of me
and so on…
If there is a topic you feel connected to or any other one that resonates with you and comes to your mind, practice your Uncomfortability Muscle and dive right in. Choose one of these per day, as small as they may be, and go for it. Choose Uncomfortability deliberately so you can practice that muscle and the more you do the more you end up on the other side and the more you do that the more you will fee proud about yourself. And that is a feeling that is one of the best in the world. It is yours. And no one can take it from you. Becasue you know, I did that for myself, I went through all those uncomfortableness to come out stronger on the other side. And that is something you can really deeply be proud of.
Do you like what you read? Then subscribe to my articles at to get them straight to your inbox.