Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

-Albert Einstein

Change is good. We should be striving to change to be a better version of ourselves every day. It sounds simple, but why is it so hard? Change is not always easy, getting better at something is not easy. Improving our relationships, jobs, health, whatever it is, takes work.

For many us improving our health means making a change, maybe a lot of changes. A lot of change can be overwhelming, so start with one change. Start by increasing your level of activity. You can start by taking daily walks, then after a few weeks add in a couple of runs, followed by running more consistently, you get the point. You could start with improving your diet. Start by reducing your sugar intake, then start to remove processed foods, and so on. It sounds so simple, but why do we have such a health problem in our country? Do we not care about our health? I think we do care and we do want to improve but we are up against a lot. I can go on for hours about how we are bombarded with misinformation from large companies trying to make an extra dollar, but we will save that for another day.

One of our biggest problems is we get comfortable. We come up with excuses and accept our poor health. We are trying, we have been running three miles, twice a week, for the last three months and don’t notice any change. If you want change you have to change what you are doing. If you are comfortable in your routine then you will not experience much change. In anything we do we must experience some discomfort to experience something better. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. I love using this one at the gym for several reasons.

If we can push ourselves to be a little uncomfortable when working out then things in our life that seemed like a struggle will no longer be such a big problem because we are used to putting ourselves in challenging situations. If you can do this you’ll be prepared to handle whatever situation comes along in your own life. Sometimes the most uncomfortable situations in life give us great perspective on how little our problems really are. We don’t always get to choose when we experience these life-changing moments that give us perspective. But in the gym we are in a controlled environment where we can push ourselves a little more every day.

Pushing ourselves a little outside of our comfort zone is where you are going to get the results you want in your fitness and health. If you want to improve your squat and you are squatting the same way you always have, comfortably, then you will continue to be the same. If you push yourself to achieve better positioning in your squat day in and day out then you will start to see the changes that you want.

Being uncomfortable does not mean pushing yourself to the point of complete exhaustion or nausea after every workout. In the gym being uncomfortable is about doing an extra pull up when you thought you couldn’t, maintaining your 2:00 minute pace on the rower longer than you thought you could, it means going harder and faster even when you don’t want to.