Comfort is Overrated

This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant

This is a guest blog post from Laura Monroe, a fellow Personal Trainer from Ironworks Gym in Binghamton, NY. I would have to say I am pretty passionate about this post, and try to live my life as she recommends. I view it as weakness of the mind to seek comfort, and a weak mind is a weak body. Train your body and mind to be comfortable with the uncomfortable. This is applicable to more than just lifting weights; the lessons in life parallel the lessons in the gym. I actually love to embrace the challenge of something hard, as it rejuvenates the life inside you and takes you away from the mundane everyday doings of American society. And to quote Joseph Campbell from The Power of Myth, “People say that what we’re seeking is a meaning for life. I don’t think that’s what we’re really seeking. I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.” I Couldn’t have said it any better, so challenge yourself and be better today than you were yesterday. There is nothing more important than knowing without any uncertainty who you are, and what you are capable of. Anyway, without further ado here you go…

“That’s right, I said it. We are constantly striving to make our lives more comfortable- we have remote controls so we don’t have to physically get up to change the channel on our tv’s, we have elevators so we don’t have to walk up and down stairs, we have cell phones so we don’t have to be at home to make and receive phone calls, or send/receive texts, we work to make more money so we can buy more gadgets that will do things that we don’t feel like doing. Note I didn’t say things we can’t do, just things we don’t feel like doing. We live for comfort and convenience.

There is nothing wrong with striving for a more comfortable existence. But there also isn’t anything wrong with making yourself a little uncomfortable (or a lot uncomfortable) from time to time. In all honesty, I see comfort as a form of stagnation.

To better yourself, you must take risks: risks are inherently uncomfortable. Starting a new exercise program, asking for a raise, quitting smoking, getting back out on the dating scene after a divorce, eating better- every one of these endeavors can be risky, uncomfortable, and requires to put yourself out there and make yourself vulnerable. It takes great strength to be willing to be vulnerable for the sake of progress.

I regularly have clients ask/say “This is going to get easier, right?” I always have to answer with a smile and say “Not really. What you are doing right this moment will get easier, but this isn’t what you will be doing once you’ve made it that far.” There is the assumption that as you make progress, things should get easier, but I disagree. If you are really working hard, making progress, and trying to better yourself, then you will continually increase your potential to push yourself that much harder and make yourself that much more uncomfortable.

Many of us look at immensely successful people and think that success comes easily to them. It is true that those who have experienced success probably had many factors in their favor; Olympic gold medalists, for example, have the genetic base to take themselves to a level higher than the average person. But those genetics mean nothing without the will to constantly push through discomfort, and then take it up a notch. Everyone alive has the potential to be better than they are at this moment. Perfection can be sought out, and is great to aim for, but it will not be attained because you can always set your sights higher.

I challenge each and every one of you to put yourself out there. Dare to live uncomfortably.”