Growth through discomfort
I recently re-engaged my consultant/coach for another six-month term.
People often ask me why I need a coach and my response is that it’s necessary to have support, objectivity and advice, for me to continually do better, be better, and perform better for my clients. Sometimes, thinking of it as a luxury, I tell myself, “Maybe I don’t need a coach, I should be able to do it for myself.” But I’ve learned over time that while I often start with good intentions, without coaching, I wander.
Coaching keeps me in a state of learning and curiosity, which stretches me beyond where I thought I could go. It’s a process that can also be extremely uncomfortable as I journey from familiar harbours to the expansive and sometimes choppy waters of the unknown.
Franciscan priest, Fr. Richard Rohr, says: “The familiar and the habitual are so falsely reassuring, and most of us make our homes there permanently. The new is always by definition unfamiliar and untested…”1
Learning new skills and unlearning existing ones (which can often be more difficult), causes a certain vulnerability, a certain discomfort. But it’s when we enter this unfamiliar territory of discomfort that new growth is enabled; new skills can emerge.
Organisational psychologist, Adam Grant, explains it this way:
Becoming a creature of discomfort can unlock hidden potential in many different types of learning. Summoning the nerve to face discomfort is a character skill—an expecially important form of determination. It takes three kinds of courage: to abandon your tried-and-true methods, to put yourself in the ring before you feel ready, and to make more mistakes than others make attempts. The best way to accelerate growth is to embrace, seek, and amplify discomfort.2
If you feel you have been marking time and are a bit too attached to the stability and comforts of the known, maybe it’s time to consider releasing the ropes: seeking new experiences, developing new skills, and getting some coaching input as an enabler.
I think it is always better to know you have tried, than to wonder what would have happened if I did.
Ray
If you would like to discuss the coaching process further and the results I’ve achieved for others, reply to this email or call me on +61 403 341 105.
ray@rayhodge.com.au; www.rayhodge.com.au; +61 403 341 105
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*edited by Michelle Sexton
*photo by Lukas
Falling Upward. A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life.
Hidden Potential. The Science of Achieving Greater Things.