Chris Mance II - Mental Skills Coach

I am a firm believer that one of the secrets to success is learning how to be comfortable being uncomfortable. In other words, you must learn how to deal with pain if you want to be successful. However, the truth is this saying is misleading.

The reality is that you don’t ever get comfortable with pain. The basic definition of comfort is “a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint “. This definition reminds me of those moments lying comfortably in bed on a Saturday morning. However, being comfortable in bed is situational.

Could you truly be comfortable in bed while you had an overdue project a client was depending on you to complete? Or if you were oversleeping through work, training, or another responsibility your future self was depending on you to complete? On the other hand, would you be comfortable in bed with all your responsibilities complete?

Speaking for myself, the answer is no to the first two questions and yes to the last question. Since you are reading this, I assume you would answer the same.

I say all this to illustrate that lacking free time, staying up late working or studying, fighting through fatigue, dealing with training pain, and the pressure of stress are all states of being uncomfortable that are also situational. Subsequently, these discomforts feel differently when you experience them because you are sacrificing for a purpose you are passionate about versus when you are not.

Being Comfortable is a Mindset

As long as you have purpose, you have the ability to practice the mental skill of reframing to change your mindset about comfort. Reframing is a mental skill that over time will allow you to change your perception of a situation. Perception is how we process our thoughts to create our reality. Although perception is not reality and instead is one’s interpretation of reality, perception does still create one’s reality.

The cliché of viewing the glass half empty or half full is the classic example of perception creating one’s reality. The reality of the person who views the glass half full is one of abundance. While the reality of the person who views the glass half empty is one of scarcity. In short, perception is one of the 5 critical elements of mindset that profoundly affects the way you lead your life.

But without the critical ingredient of purpose, reframing perception is useless. Purpose is what allows you to put the perception of discomfort into the context of sacrificing for a greater good. It’s in this greater good where you can reframe any moment of discomfort into a moment of comfort with practice. It’s practicing this mindset of purpose that allows you to be comfortable being uncomfortable.

This practice should include working on the following mindset shifts:

1. Goals from an outcome focus to a process focus.
2. Urgency from a short-term mindset into a long-term mindset.
3. Comparisons from an ego focus to a task focus.
4. Progress from focusing on the end state to focusing on a progression.
5. Growth from fixing weaknesses to building strengths.
6. Stress from being a threat to being a challenge.