Have you ever heard the phrase “If you do what’s hard now, your life will become easy—but if you do what’s easy now, your life will always be hard?” Whether you have or haven’t, there’s quite a bit of truth in the saying. However, the real question is how can a person truly make sense of the message that’s being conveyed, unless they know where they’re headed in life.

Most people struggle with the idea of following their dreams, not because they don’t want to, or they don’t believe that their dreams can actually come true—but typically because they just don’t know where to start. No market research is needed at all, because we all know that the discomfort in someone knowing that they could fail, usually is the determining factor that prevents them from even taking the first step.

The discomfort felt when someone begins to compare themselves to others on various social media platforms or even those around them, who are supposedly “successful”—is what commonly stifles a person from reading a helpful book or even Google searching the steps necessary for them to begin their journey.

Whatever the case—the grocery-list of reasons why most people shy away from their discomfort can be justified in a plethora of ways—because the reasons truly are valid. Conversely, the excuses don’t matter, and this is what we must all remember when it comes to taking back control of our happiness.

Here are 3 ways to lean into your discomfort, so that you can create a comfortable life that you envision:

1. Face The Person In The Mirror & Tell Him or Her How Special They Are

Self-motivation is important, but internal inspiration outweighs all metrics of scalability! And just know that this cryptic like energy doesn’t come from the outside world. It comes from infinite space of creativity within you—once you’ve programmed your subconscious mind to believe that your voice matters. 

I mean think about it, embracing the idea that your message could be heard by hundreds, even thousands, or better yet—millions, is quite intimidating and overwhelming. However, as daunting as becoming a public figure may be—because most people shy away from the limelight, the focus should be solely on the lives that your message had a hand in impacting.

Imagine how rewarding it would be to receive snail-mail, emails, or comments on your Instagram and Facebook page—from people just like you, expressing how your personal story or tips on self-development saved their life, and gave them the hope that they needed to carry on through their tough times.

That—is what it’s about, but you’ll never be able to experience this level of service and gratitude if you fail to empower, nurture, and support the man or woman in the mirror. 

Do whatever you feel that you need to do, in order to embrace and lean into the discomfort that comes with letting go of your fears, with the intent to wrap your arms around the belief that what you have to say truly can change and save lives.

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

2. Tell The World About What You’re Planning To Do and/or Create

“Accountability” is one of the most frightening words known in any language or culture. Reason being, once you say that you’re going to do something—you pretty much just pinky-promised that statement and others are going to be looking forward to you delivering on your word. This pressure is normally manipulated to be counter-intuitive, but on the contrary—accountability is also quite empowering.

Yes, empowering once you lean into the discomfort of knowing that YOU put an expectation in place and only YOU can deliver on the promise that YOU made, whether it be big or small—to the masses or to just one person. Embracing the feels of knowing that others are depending on you to follow through with your word is a liberating feeling, because not only are you proving that you can do more, be more, and accomplish more—others begin to see that you’re evolving, not only as a man or woman of their word, but as a human being with something to offer to the world.

And who knows, your evolution into the next chapter of your life, could be the starting point for someone else who was watching you, in hopes that you would stay true to your promises—which ultimately ends up inspiring them.

3. Look To Solve A Problem, Versus Adding Complexity To The Equation

In my opinion, the best way to lean into your discomfort, is to tackle a social problem head-on and look to find ways to solve it for the greater market. Think about it, the best business opportunities are created by those who seek to solve social problems that most people just sit around and complain about.

Travis Kalanick—modernized convenience for the average traveler who doesn’t own a vehicle and/or who wants to be chauffeured. Jeff Bezos—literally brought the convenience of shopping for anything in the world to the tip of your thumb, at the touch of an Add to Cart button… and the list goes on.

Embrace the discomfort in knowing that if you seek to solve a social problem that needs attention, you don’t have to have all of the answers on how to rectify the issue. Reason being, perfection doesn’t exist and people don’t mind that understanding, as long as you’re being efficient in providing resolve to the overall problem—with the product or solution that you’re offering.

“Every once in a while you need to challenge yourself and learn new things.” – Amit Ray

Happy to say, that’s the beauty of most social problems in today’s times, People aren’t looking for perfection; most are looking for a real-time fix on how to improve something that’s causing a real-time inconvenience in their current lives. 

You just have to remember that we’re living in a time of convenience, and society will be sure to remind you that you’re behind the ball, if you fail to sharpen your skills on the daily. So, lean into the discomfort of your life’s challenges, because the reward will always be worth it.

What’s the most uncomfortable challenge or problem you’ve overcome lately, and how did that make your life better? Share your stories with us below!