Embrace the Suck

The biggest lie we have been told is that discomfort is a bad thing.

Discomfort is the best damn thing that could ever happen to you.

When we’re kids, we love to try new things. Sure, there’s the kids who cry at the thought of doing anything new, but for the most part they will try it.

You don’t see kids sitting around saying, “But I don’t have the perfect plan” or “I’ll wait until it’s the right moment” or “I’m really busy right now.”

But at some point, we get into that habit as adults. We put those dreams off.

For some reason, even trying becomes this toxic sink-hole of hell that crushes the smallest action steps. Instead, we keep saying “tomorrow” / “next month” / “when I quit my job” or whatever excuse we make to not start NOW.

There are two very different kinds of pain:

• BAD pain: I’m losing my home/I broke my leg/I’ve been stabbed.
• GOOD pain: This could make me a better person, but it feels icky.

The problem is, we constantly lump the two together as if they were one in the same.

They’re NOT.

I meet people all the time who want to start a blog, go to the gym, start dating again, and so on. When you break it down, the first steps are easy: publish, go to the gym, join Tinder.

Everything else from there is merely tenacity, the hardest part is starting.

Instead of asking yourself what could go wrong, start focusing on what could go right.

You’ll never know until you try.

Looking back, the best things that ever happened in my life came from moments of initial discomfort.

I only have a writing business because I finally hit publish. It took buying 10 domains and searching the internet for “how to start a blog” for almost two years. When I finally hit publish, you know what happened? Nothing. None of those fears came true about everyone I know e-mailing me to say I was an idiot (fear is irrational). However, the next time I hit publish? It still made me feel icky inside, but it was just a little easier.

Nothing good ever came from thinking about what I wanted. It came from putting myself in a position to embrace the suck and start.

There were many opportunities I missed because I didn’t embrace the suck. Missed clients, relationships, hobbies, friendships… all down the drain because those false fears got in the way.

Something I’ve been trying recently is every single time I think about trying something new, I take immediate action no matter how small.

Before, I would make a note of it, go to internet forums, read everyone’s experience in x, y, z, and ultimately put it off.

“Do the thing you fear, and the death of fear is certain.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

What can you do, RIGHT NOW? Because your dream is only as real as the next step you take.