Let’s Get Uncomfortable

Everyone wants to be happy. Everyone also wants to be comfortable. But what if we told you that by choosing one, you must abandon the other? True happiness stems from discomfort, and this is often difficult to understand because most people associate comfort with happiness. 

In the beginning, there was one goal: survival. Our brains craved comfort and stability because this meant we were safe from threats and we were alive. As time progressed, however, humans wanted more than just making it by. Unfortunately, the brain still desires comfort. Comfort is easy. Comfort takes less effort. The brain does everything it can to conserve energy, and remaining in your comfort zone helps the brain to do this.

Is there anything that you have always wanted to do, but you feel like it would be too hard or embarrassing? When you think like this, you are being self-destructive. Your brain doesn’t like change because it craves comfort, but sometimes change is exactly what you need in your life. These don’t have to be huge things, like moving to a new country or quitting your job, (but if they are, we say go for it). They can be little things, too, like trying a new workout or starting a new morning routine. It will be uncomfortable at first, like anything new, but little or big changes will push you to a new level of happiness. 

Gay Hendricks discusses the phenomenon of the “upper limit” in his book, “The Big Leap.” His book is based on the philosophy that people have a set amount of happiness that they allow themselves. This can stem from limiting beliefs or deep fears, like failure. When you start to make changes in your life that your brain isn’t accustomed to, it sounds some alarms. It flags these new experiences as dangerous or threatening even if in reality, they’re improving your quality of life. This might cause you to revert back to old ways, abandoning your new ideas, goals and dreams because they make you feel uneasy. They break the “limit” you placed upon yourself. When you come to recognize this as self-destructive, it makes it easier to push past this discomfort, which in turn, breaks your upper limit, making you a happier person. 

It takes a lot of time to become conscious of self-sabotaging thoughts and behavior, especially if you’ve never recognized them as harmful before. Recognition is the first step to change though, and by just understanding the upper limit and your brain’s desire for comfort, you have the ability to make big changes, without self-imposed limitations. In Luvvie Ajayi Jones’ TED Talk, “Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable,” she shares a piece of advice: “If something scares you, do it anyway.” By deciding to take this advice seriously, you are deciding to change your life for the better.