Pursuing Discomfort
A few months ago I started to get the ‘itch’… after a few years of being really focused on my kids (who are now 19 months and 3 years) it felt like it was time to get back to me and what I want from my business and life.
I’ve had an awesome year with the release of my book last September (wow, guess that makes this a one year anniversary, time flies!) and the success of the first ever Online Business Manager Certification and Training program.
And yet here I was feeling the itch to do something more… to play a bigger game.
Now I will admit, my first reaction to this feeling was “come on, haven’t I done enough already? Look at all the great progress I’ve made this year, now I’m supposed to do more? Can’t I just sit back and enjoy this for a while?” LOL
Yet the itch was persisting… and so I started to dip my toe into the water of “what next?” – what do I need in order to play this bigger game for me and my business? Of course when I ask the question, the answers usually do show up rather quickly… and not always in the form that I want them to.
When I’m looking at making changes in my life or business, one of the biggest indicators of where I need to go next is my level of discomfort. I’ve come to learn over the years that those things that scare me the most are the things that I need to pay attention to. My biggest gifts always come from me stepping into something that I’m afraid of or resisting for some reason.
Case in point, my deciding to invest in this coaching intensive that I’m at right now… the biggest stretch for me here isn’t the money. It’s the fact of having to leave my girls for 5 whole days! Let me tell you, that was a HUGE consideration for me… to the point where I almost didn’t attend. A big part of doing what I do and working from home has always been about being there for my kids… and now I’m presented with an opportunity that requires me to be away from them? Yipes!
And yet I knew, that deep down feeling of conviction when I’m on the right path, that this is something I had to do. Once I made the decision to be here, the steps to actually making it happen were surprisingly easy. And after a few tears upon leaving (from me, not the girls, hehe) so far it’s been a blast and WELL worth it.
I’ve heard it said various times from successful people that we need to learn to ‘become comfortable with being uncomfortable.’ And although a part of me resists that, I know it to be true for me and my own growth. Even when it annoys me. 
So let me ask you – how uncomfortable are you in your life right now? When is the last time you stepped into something that scared you? Are you clinging to comfort at the expense of your own growth?
Comments, thoughts?
Sign up now to receive this free PDF, along with our monthly newsletter
This post comes at a great time for me. Through a series of fortuitous events, I’ve been asked to teach a class on QuickBooks at the local community college. I’ve been doing bookkeeping for much longer than I’ve been a VA but I’ve never taught before. The class is full – 40 students. I’m feeling particularly as I create my lesson plans. But I know that when I feel most alive is when I push myself into new territory.
I’ve been feeling for some time that I needed to take the skills I’ve learned outside the virtual world and empower women to become entreprenuers, especially in these in certain times. I’ve proposed another class for spring on creating an online business presence.
It is all feeling very disquieting but I know that I will over prepare and that after the first class, I’ll be able to breath normally and that I will feel a great sense of accomplishment and growth. It’s just getting from here to there.
A great book on this topic is Face Your Fears by Pema Chodron.
I can’t wait to hear about your Nagel breakthroughs and where you will be heading next. Thank you for the great timing of this post.
Congrats on this new teaching opp Alexa – how fun. Did you have your first class yet? How did it go?