Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Posted by Orrin Woodward on August 12, 2013
Little League Baseball Game
As a young lad, growing up in Columbiaville, Michigan, I avoided trying new activities for fear of embarrassing myself. Looking back, I now realize I hurt my ability to grow by being so uncomfortable with being uncomfortable with an new field. In essence, the only thing I did was ensure I failed through not even making an effort. I didn’t start playing baseball until fifth grade (even though I should have started in the second grade) because I was afraid I wouldn’t play well. In truth, I only delayed learning the game and gave everyone else a three year head start. Nonetheless, I eventually learned the game and wondered why I procrastinated so long before attempting something new.
I say all of this to challenge the next-generation to get comfortable being uncomfortable. Yes, of course, a person will make mistakes and probably fail in his first efforts in a new endeavor, but that’s just how God designed human beings to learn. For in real life, the test is given first, then the red checkmarks display where we need to improve before taking the test again. One must have the courage to take the test, study the results, and make adjustments in order to improve. By lacking courage, in other words, I missed out on many tests that would have helped me improve as a person, performer, and leader.
To sum up, this is probably the greatest single principle I learned on my journey to personal success in life – anyone can improve in any area if he is willing to take the test, even if it means failing at first, so he can learn what he must improve upon in order to grow and win. So here is my challenge to the reader. What is it that you truly want to accomplish in life? What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? Start the activity today and take the first “test.” It is time to get comfortable being uncomfortable for all longterm success is on the other side of one’s comfort zone. LIFE Leadership helps being with this process.
Sincerely,
23 Responses to “Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable”
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Randy Robson said
Wow, do I relate with this article. Thanks to the information and training through LIFE Leadership, I have been able to overcome many of these types of mental blocks. Thank you Orrin for this article.
Wendi Witkowski said
Great blog Orrin! The more we learn to get past the uncomfortable the more exciting new challenges become because we learn we can try anything! Looking forward to hearing you speak in Port Charlotte
, FL!
Tim Marks said
Orrin
Love it!!!
It’s amazing how our country doesn’t agree. Many sports are not allowing the kids to keep score, or so they think. Kids always know the score and so does life.
Tim Marks
MARIO VEGA said
THANKS ORRIN FOR YOUR TEACHING. NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE, OR WHERE YOU CAME FROM, YOUR DREAM WILL GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO BE. SEE YOU IN PORT CHARLOTTE. LIBERATORS.
Elizabeth Sieracki said
This article is so thought provoking.
I started going back through RESOLVED today because at this weekends seminar Steve Leurquin (he and Jamie did a fabulous job in FL) talked about the Trip-lateral leadership leger. He encouraged us just to focus on one thing and work on that.
Each week I’ve decided to be purposeful in working on each of the 13 Resoltions. The first one is Purpose and it is by no coincidence that this article chimes in well with that.
“What is it that you truly want to accomplish in life?”… This may sound cliché, but I want to leave a legacy. I want my life on this earth to mean something. I want to impact people’s lives –Leading them to a relationship with Christ and ultimately the life they have always wanted.
Orrin, you have left a legacy! You and Laurie’s hard work and dedication will live on, not only through your children but also the thousands of lives you changed through LIFE.
This past weekend the life of Sgt. Mike Wilson was celebrated. He was a 42yr. old local policeman who was killed in the line of duty by our house. He left behind a wife and 3 young kids. The outpouring of this county and the entire country was amazing. This Christian man was remembered as a hero. It was extremely apparent that he had touched so many and left such a legacy.
Sgt. Wilson’s life is an example of what the results can be when someone decides to live a life of selflessness and sacrifice.
Chris Schill said
Love it! There is NO growth without the pain of change! Thanks for modeling and teaching this to us all O!! It’s our mission to spread it further…. It’s time for our personal best!
Kristine Militello said
awesome message!
Life is giving tests everyday. So glad to know about the PDCA process!
Richard Kroll Jr. said
Thank you for the short but POWERFUL article Orrin! This would make a great topic for an Edge CD…
It wasn’t until I read “Failing Forward” through the LIFE Training System that I truly understood the need to “Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable” and that most times it’s only through learning by failing that we learn.
Thank you for the constant reminder that “we need to be bad at something long enough to get good at it!”
Rob Robson said
I love this principle. Reminds me of Maxwell’s book “Failing Foreword”. Thanks for the insight Orrin!
Marc Militello said
Great Post! Let the next test begin!!
Juleen Ray said
Thanks for sharing this today Orrin.
J & P Harteis said
Thanks, Orrin, for the reminder that it’s not just “us” that this happens to! We’re a product of the system that promotes overcoming & are very thankful for it! The process of “being comfortable being uncomfortable”, long enough to overcome the urge to quit, is what our culture needs!
Phelicia Wyant said
Thanks for you amazing leadership! I get that uncomfortable feeling every time I pick up the phone to make a contact, but the more calls I make the more comfortable I am with that uncomfortable feeling. Like you and Chris Brady said on the Manufactured Success EDGE CD. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly until you get good at it. That CD came at exactly the right moment for me, and repeated what my husband had just tried to tell me. It wasn’t something I wanted to hear, but it was what I needed to hear, and has transformed my thinking. Again thank you for everything you do to transform the lives of people you have never even met.
Peggi Kern said
Such a great article, Orrin! I look back and think of all the tests I opted out of for fear of failure. It’s because of the LIFE Leadership information that I’ve been able to see failure as feedback to success and learning. This is only one of the things I’ve learned that has changed my thinking and is changing my results!
CC Achilefu said
This has been a recurring theme for me lately. Seems every time I turn around these days, I am reminded that failure is apart of succeeding. Failure was sorely frowned upon by seemingly everyone adult who ever had any authority in my life growing up. As an athlete, I can’t recall a single coach encouraging me use my defeat for fuel to win or fell my way to success. I know now, at least Praise God I’m learning, to see failure through the proper lens. It’s apart of the recipe. This excites me because I will be able to pass this lesson on my kids and those I am blessed to lead and inspire. .
Thanks for another shot in the arm Orrin. You rock!!
Kristen Seidl said
Great post Orrin – I have learned to love tests and being uncomfortable. One of the things I loved most about teaching physical education was that almost every activity we did required a ‘pre-test’ or ‘pre-assessment.’ It was really the only way we could measure how well a student was progressing on an individual level. The students never liked it in the beginning because it revealed weaknesses but it forced them to work harder every day so they could see the positive results of their efforts at the end (i.e. the post assessment).
Orrin Woodward said
Amen Kristen. A perfect example!
Chad Waters said
Hi Orrin,
Oh…… Life has taught this principle well! As a choleric I think its something we do natural, by mistake and on purpose. However The Life Business has taught me aatleast currently and ongoing how to leverage all these moment and make them more of an advantage in daily life.
Life is to be lived, learrned and experienced!
Have a great day!
Steve Meixner said
Orrin, Again a Great Lesson. I too was always shy to try something new and once I did it I was not that bad. To late to go back but from this day forward I am going to take that chance ,sooner rather than later! Thanks again,
Steve
Florio Mazares said
The “familiar” zone can keep you from looking at that scoreboard. Thank you Orrin for continuing to inspire us to take action toward our dreams and fail often so we can share our lessons with everyone.
Kim Decker said
Orrin. It is amazing how many of us are afraid to do better because we base it on others opinions of us. I am learning to let it go and go forward to the best I can be. Thank you for a great post
David Nelson said
Kirk Birtles says it good with his “Little League Loser” cd’s, forget about hitting the ball , what kept us coming back time after time to try again? must have been the fun and friends
Carrianne Hall said
So true!! Orrin you are right, we don’t know what we don’t know! Procrastinating or looking away from an opportunity because of the fear of the unknown, just maybe holding you back from some of the greatest joy God has sent into your life! Great perspective!
Thank you, to you and Laurie for the incredible perspective you bring to all our lives! Love yas, God Bless