How often do you sense that you are uncomfortable?
Do you even realize what that feels like? So may we go through our days feeling uneasy, but we don’t knowledge it or even realize what we’re experiencing or even why.
As a life coach, I empower women to discover what they want in their lives and give them the tools to move forward towards accomplishing that. Quite often, and actually, more often than not, this creates discomfort. And when we feel uncomfortable, we shy away from what we’re doing and put it aside. I believe that we can all get comfortable being uncomfortable and in doing so, we will move forward more easily and more quickly!
Follow these steps and you’ll discover how to get comfortable being uncomfortable!
1) Recognize It: Try to pay more attention to how you feel as you’re doing new things. What are you experiencing? Is your heart racing? Is your stomach clenching? Are you feeling sweaty? These are examples of physically feeling uncomfortable. It can be different for each one of us, but it’s important for you to become aware of how you are feeling and recognize it.
2) Acknowledge It: Now that you can recognize it, acknowledge it. You can say to yourself, “I am feeling uncomfortable when I think about ______”. It may seem silly, but just realizing what you are feeling can help to dispel it. As women we are helping and serving so many others in our lives that we rarely take notice of what we are personally experiencing. We think we don’t have time to reflect on ourselves. But why not? You deserve to think about yourself and what you are feeling and then acknowledge it!
3) Feel It: It’s important to give yourself a chance to feel it. It’s easier to squash down any negative feeling by getting busy with something else, or using a self-soothing technique like food or alcohol or even turning on the TV. We have many ‘coping’ mechanisms at our fingertips for feelings we just don’t like. I’m suggesting that you actually take a few minutes to feel it. Say, “I am uncomfortable now because I have to _____.” For me, it’s happening right now! I’m uncomfortable writing this blog. I want to make it valuable for all who read it and that puts some pressure on me. I recognize it, acknowledge it, am feeling it and I just wrote it down here. And now, magically, I have started writing the blog!
4) Get Started: Whatever the current task at hand is that has you uncomfortable, figure out the very first small step you need to get to get it done. The first step should take no more than 30 minutes. Set your timer and just get going. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to get done. Once you get started and realize that you are making headway, you will be able to get into action and stay that way. It’s like a ball rolling downhill. Once it gets going, it keeps going and often picks up speed on the way.
5) Praise Yourself: Don’t forget to give yourself a pat on the back for your efforts! It’s something that, as women, we often neglect to do. We are so busy boosting everyone else up, that we fail to remember how important it is to feel great about what we’re doing. Keep a log, or chart and check off the times you are doing tasks and meeting challenges while you are uncomfortable. Having a visual can really help you see and appreciate each step you are taking towards your goal.
You can get comfortable being uncomfortable, and by doing so you will create big goals and be able to accomplish them.
“Do one thing that scares you every day” – Eleanor Roosevelt
