What if Discomfort Is the Pathway to Success [ep.122]
Hello lovely lady and welcome to Higher Self and I!
Let’s be honest, not many people like to push themselves out of their comfort zone. It’s called a COMFORT zone for a reason, right? But what if I told you that embracing discomfort could be the key to unlocking your success? A couple of weeks ago, my boyfriend and I moved into our new dream home and I must admit that despite all the excitement and butterflies in my stomach, I felt uncomfortable because I was stepping out of my comfort zone.
This experience got me thinking about why we consider discomfort a bad thing, when in reality discomfort is the pathway to success!
Tune in to today’s episode to learn about why getting out of your comfort zone is actually a good thing, how to work through the fears and any mindset block in the process, how our subconscious mind processes new experiences, understand four stages of learning, and more!
Topics covered on Discomfort Is the Pathway to Success:
Moving into our dream home!
Why discomfort is crucial for success?
What fear came up for me as I moved into my new home?
What are the four stages of learning?
If you have these four traits, you’ve got what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Why you should celebrate feelings of discomfort in your business?
How do you know it’s the right time to get out of your comfort zone?
Quote:
“The moment that we know we're in discomfort is the moment we know we're fucking moving forwards.“
Transcription: Our AI tried its best, but expect a few quirky typos in the transcript. Embrace the imperfections and enjoy the read!
[00:00:00] Hello, beautiful lady Anna, welcome to Higher Self and I, the podcast, the birthday edition. Oh yes, it is not actually my birthday today. It's in fact my dad's birthday today. So happy birthday Dad. If you're listening, um, it's my birthday on the 15th, so the birthday Bonanza is out. It's here on social media. Go and check the Instagram.
[00:00:23] Um, there is a little advert in this podcast just letting you know about it. But I love birthdays. I, I, in fact, actually love celebrating other people's birthdays than actually celebrating my own. But hey, ho, we love a birthday podcast. So today I want to talk about something that's actually come up for me this morning.
[00:00:45] And I was on the way to the gym. It is a brand new gym. Um, we've just moved locations, so kind of new gym, new supermarket, new everything. Um, and some of that can feel quite uncomfortable. And we moved into pretty much a dream home for me a couple of weeks ago. And yes, it felt quite. Uncomfortable because it was this step out of my comfort zone and I was thinking about discomfort and I was thinking about the way that we feel discomfort and when we do feel discomfort and how we really wanna get out of it as quick as we can.
[00:01:30] But actually how discomfort is the, the kind of telltale sign that we are growing. And that's what I wanna talk about today because a lot of the time. As soon as we feel that discomfort because our subconscious wants to keep us safe, we retract, right? We're like, whoa, no, that's uncomfortable. I don't wanna do that.
[00:01:50] I don't wanna know that. But actually, discomfort. Is the way to success because no one got to the things that they want by being comfortable, did they? And actually when I, the more I thought about this discomfort and like the discomfort of going to a new gym, the discomfort of not even knowing the way to the gym and having to use the map, like all of these little things, the discomfort of being in this house that I've absolutely freaking wanted for so long.
[00:02:17] And yes, the fear of success came up. Don't you worry, I've done the work. Um, but all of these like patterns of discomfort that we, that kind of, we, we want that next level. We wanna work into what that looks like. We wanna step into what that looks like, and all of a sudden when we get the discomfort, we're like, whoa, no, no, no.
[00:02:36] Let's go back to safety. I want us to reframe that because actually the moment that we know we're in discomfort is the moment we know we're fucking moving forwards. And that's exciting. That is so exciting. And when I'm going through any identity shift with my client, when we are kind of moving beliefs, when we're moving habits and behaviors and we're moving through feelings, a lot of them do feel uncomfortable.
[00:03:07] And I talk about all this all the time. The subconscious work is not a fucking walk in the park. And it does take a lot of conscious thinking to change the thoughts, to change the beliefs, to change the feelings, to change who you are stepping into. And a lot of the time I have to remind them that it's gonna be uncomfortable.
[00:03:26] Now, I don't like to put it there as preface, but actually when we are doing something that's brand new to us, it's gonna feel uncom. And that's okay because we knew we are new to it. And it reminds me of the four stages of learning. Now, I know I probably have spoken about this on the podcast before, but we have four stages of learning that we go through, and this is when we take anything new on.
[00:03:48] And the the example that I always use is when you learn to drive a car, the first stage of learning is when we don't know what we don't know. We are unconsciously incompetent. We don't know. Well, we don't know. We, we don't know that we need to learn it. The end, nothing else to say. Then we move into conscious incompetence.
[00:04:11] We consciously know that we need to do something consciously, know that we need to drive, but we don't know how to, we've maybe not even started learning yet. So say when you started your business, you consciously knew that you're gonna have to show up on Instagram and market yourself, but. Don't know how to do that yet.
[00:04:32] Then we move into the third stage of learning, which is consciously competent. This is the make or break section, because it either makes us in the way of, we stick to it long enough, it feels really fucking uncomfortable, but we stay there long enough to move into number four, which I'll talk about in a minute, or we give it a go.
[00:04:57] It feels too uncomfortable. We retract. Never again put it on the shelf. We don't want to go there. And conscious competence takes energy. It takes time, it takes patience, and it takes knowing. And I find those four, if you do not have those as an entrepreneur. That's where people quit because it's either the lack of patience or the kind of the, the lack of passion behind it that keeps you going, that pulls you back from actually staying long enough in conscious competence.
[00:05:31] And once you've been in conscious competence, For long enough, you know, like, let's have a look at you driving the car again. So, conscious competence for me looks like two hands on the wheel looking up. Look into the side. The everything was so robotic and you had to think about every single thing that you do, pedal up on the clutch.
[00:05:52] All of those things you had to really think about. Now, you then, because you'd done it long enough, Because you've done it long enough, again, you move into subconscious competence, which you means you can do it without even thinking about it. So for instance, the podcast for me is very subconsciously competent for me right now.
[00:06:15] However, because I'm in a new location, I'm recording the podcast in a different way, it's felt a little bit consciously competent today. You see what I mean? Like you can be subconsciously competent for so many things, but if you change one thing up, like whether it's a new habit, a new morning routine, a new evening routine, a new way of doing social media, a new way of speaking to your, your audience on your stories, a new way of tracking your finances, you're gonna have to be consciously competent before you can move into the subconscious competence.
[00:06:49] I've said competence too many times now, but a lot of people don't give themselves enough time to move into that, and this is where the discomfort is. So the discomfort lives in you having to think about being in that thing or doing that thing or. Changing your thoughts, changing your feelings, changing your results.
[00:07:11] You have to stay in that discomfort for long enough to move into subconscious, because now you drive and you get there and you're like, how the hell did I even get there? I don't even know. You know? It's happened without you even thinking. So actually looking at that, really knowing and giving yourself grace, giving yourself patience to go, you know what?
[00:07:34] This feels uncomfortable. Because it should feel uncomfortable. It should actually feel really fricking uncomfortable right now, and that's okay. The more safety that you can create around the discomfort, the better, because discomfort is taking us to that next level. And that's what I really wanted to kind of hone in on today, is that if you are feeling discomfort in your business, In a way that, you know, you're pushing yourself outside the comfort zone and things feel like a bit edgy, or there's a new belief that feels a bit edgy, or there's a new activity that you're doing in your business that's a new, a bit edgy, freaking celebrate that.
[00:08:14] Celebrate yourself being like, wow, I'm in discomfort right now, guys. Let's celebrate. Because that's when you know that you are moving into a new reality. That's when you know that you are collapsing your timeline. That's when you know. That you being consistent at that enough is going to become subconscious to you, and that's where the magic happens.
[00:08:37] So actually just discomfort. Welcome it in. And if you aren't feeling discomfort right now, if you are ploting along, if. Doing the things that you've always done. Thinking the thoughts that you've always thought. Feeling the thought, feeling, the feelings you've always felt. Maybe it's time to bring a bit of discomfort into your life.
[00:08:56] Maybe it's time to go, you know what? Everything feels a little bit comfortable for me right now. And that quote, nothing good happens in the comfort zone is usually right. You know, we do have to push ourself out of the comfort zone because I know I don't wanna stay where I'm at. I know I wanna enjoy the journey.
[00:09:15] Enjoy what I've created. Yes, but I'm here to play big, so I've gotta keep pushing myself into discomfort to get there. You know, look back. Look at the times that you've been in discomfort. Did something grow of that? Probably, yes. I would hazard a guess. Really stepping into that and knowing that the discomfort is actually a good thing.
[00:09:37] So, very short and sweet today, but, Let's welcome discomfort in a little bit more and, and maybe have a look and see, okay, like where can I be pushing myself more? Where can I step into this more? Where can I feel a little bit uncomfortable right now because I know it's gonna take me to that ne that what that next level.
[00:09:57] I'll see you on the next episode and make sure you keep an eye out for the birthday Bonanza specials. Um, have a beautiful day. Ah, bye.
More about Higher Self & I:
Higher Self & I is the podcast for ambitious female entrepreneurs who are ready to achieve and sustain mind-blowing results in their biz. It’s a show that will release you of your victim mindset and give you complete freedom and energy to jump into the self you always knew you could be. Each week, Rebecca Haydon will help you lock your mindset into gear and empower you to step into the person you always knew you were meant to be – a bad-ass CEO who is here to claim her freaking millionaire life!