Where are you headed?

Every time I try to crack a new way of being, it sucks. When you’re new to something, you know, that famous learning curve. How long should it be, really? Well, it all depends. What’s your purpose, and how willing are you to get out of your comfort zone and embrace the suck joyfully, knowing it’s an inevitable part of the deal.

Embrace the suck, just for a little while

Embracing the suck is a great expression. It’s been leading my way for a while now. It made me realize some critical things and wonder what’s beyond it. So… the way I see it is, there are different kinds of suck, there’s objective suck, and then there is the self-inflicted suck. The one you went into when you decided to change the way things have been so far, the so-called objective suck. It all starts from acknowledging that even objective kinds of suck are your creation. You just decided to tolerate them too long. You got to an edge and said to yourself – that’s it, something’s got to change. 

You start looking for the right path to your next self – that place where life as you knew it would change. Taking responsibility for creating the suck that moves you forward, is the beginning of the path towards the person you want to become. 

Why tolerate things that don’t work for you for so long?

There are many reasons you overlook the suck. First, it takes time for you to notice, then you are afraid to challenge a status quo, rock the boat, hurt other people’s feelings, you’re scared to ask for help, or in a nutshell, you are utterly reluctant, for various reasons to leave the comfort zone you settled into.   

How can a comfort zone be a suck zone you ask. Well, we all fall for that one. We get used to how things are, that becomes what we know. What you know is your comfort zone, as much as it may not serve you anymore or suck. It becomes something you tolerate because you’re used to it, and the thought of leaving the zone of what you know is terrifying. 

You finally take the leap by seeing the purpose you’re rooting for. 

Once you can see that clearly, you can summon up the courage to take the leap.

Beyond (the) uncomfortable

So you have to know why you get out of your comfort zone. For example, my goal for the next two weeks is to improve my aerobic system. I’ve been on the MAF method nutrition recommendations for four days and low heart rate training. Yesterday was the most challenging day. Walking or running my usual route in the morning was hard. Other factors like the quality and quantity of my sleep and stress accumulated in the past few days, may have made it suck more. 

Going the usual morning route of interval running and feeling the hardship, made me think I was doing something wrong. I wasn’t really, my heart rate was where it was supposed to be. Something in my muscles worked differently yesterday, it was strange. Not my comfort zone, to say the least. Today was a new ballgame, as if I were a different person running the route. 

I went beyond a sort of threshold and moved into a new zone. I started thriving on my new path.

What happened yesterday?

I embraced the suck. I didn’t know today was going to be better. Experiments are like that, you don’t see what you will find when you venture into new ground. 

It is often like that the most challenging part is just before a breakthrough. 

This is something to keep in mind. When you think you can’t do it anymore, or that this can’t be right, proceed for just one more day and step toward where you want to go. Chances are, you’ll be thriving just beyond that suckiest phase.

A new life

It’s like turning a cliff and seeing a new land stretching miles in front of you, just like in adventure films when you get to the promised land, or one you could never have imagined in your wildest dreams. You just had to cross that last barrier, turn that cliff, sustain the effort for one more day, and there it is. 

What sustains you are two things:

1. 1. Your purpose, seeing it there in front of you.
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3. 2. The experience of those that went before you gives you courage and a sense that despite the difficulties, what you’re trying to achieve is possible.

You know you’re not completely mad or on your own. 

You know others have done this before, now it’s your turn, you can do it. 

Thrive beyond your comfort zone, and become who you want to be.