The Art of being Uncomfortable

Photo by Kevin Chen

For most of my life I've tried to stay comfortable. But after a few years as a student, an engineer, and someone who's always building something, I've slowly come round to the opposite idea: being uncomfortable is worth going looking for, not avoiding.

Why being uncomfortable is good

The first few times I pushed myself into new tech, new roles, and bigger projects, I noticed how fast comfort turns into a trap. I stop reaching for more, and I stop expecting more of myself. Being uncomfortable drags my weaknesses out into the open instead of letting me quietly work around them.

It's also where my confidence comes from. There's a specific feeling after you've fought through something hard, when you realise you actually got it done and came out better for it. That's the feeling I'm chasing, because it makes the next hard thing look a bit smaller.

Why I go looking for it

I've watched avoiding discomfort make my world smaller. Some of the best things that have happened to me only happened because I said yes before I felt ready. So I treat discomfort less like a hurdle and more like a habit, a reminder that getting better is a choice I have to keep making.

The more I put myself in situations that stretch me, the bigger my world gets. New ideas, new people, and new chances tend to show up right after I've agreed to do something that scared me a little.

It took me the better part of 20 years to work this out. Better late than never.