Embracing discomfort causes growth.

Discomfort means there is work to be done. It means there is some other coping mechanism that I need to overcome to better myself. Face the work that needs to be done.

At the risk of sounding like a finance bro, I’ve been taking cold showers in the morning. It’s uncomfortable and every time I do it, I recognize the thing thats more uncomfortable is my resistance to what the cold shower will feel like. While I’m in the shower, its the idea that the cold shower is uncomfortable that makes it uncomfortable, or that its cold that makes me panic. And its that I can control my mind. I have the power over my own consciousness. Over the way I perceive things and the stories I tell myself and the way I tell myself.

So, while I’m showering once the idea of trying to avoid the cold shower that morning is when I start it. And while I’m in the shower and its cold, instead of letting my brain focus on how cold it is, I focus instead on topics, ideas, behaviors, actions that I am avoiding in my real life because they are uncomfortable or unfamiliar.

It is a form of meditation.

Bringing my focus and attention to whatever I command it to. It is a muscle that needs to be worked out, just like any other. And its discipline, accountability, and integrity.