Embrace Discomfort

It took me a couple of years to work up the guts to write my first article.

And it was pretty horrible.

However, it’s fun for me to read that first story now because it’s a great reminder of the growth I’ve experienced as a writer.

That article serves as a historical benchmark of my writing ability, just like this article you’re reading now will be my benchmark when I look back a year from now. I hope next year, the work I’m generating today will be embarrassing to me. That would mean I’ve improved significantly as a writer.

Legendary radio host Ira Glass says that every creative professional has a gap between what they want to create and what they’re able to create right now:

“All of us who do creative work…you get into this thing, and there’s like a ‘gap.’ What you’re making isn’t so good, okay?…It’s trying to be good but…it’s just not that great. The key is to force yourself through the work, force the skills to come; that’s the hardest phase.”

Success accrues to those who will sludge through the shitty initial work and continue doing the work. Each of us must push through this uncomfortable stage in order to become exceptional.

“The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them.” -Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

Our creative work should feel difficult. Otherwise, we’re not pushing hard enough or stretching ourselves enough.

You can feel the discomfort of painstaking growth.

In his book So Good They Can’t Ignore You, Cal Newport talks about how he’s begun to view this discomfort as a positive thing: “Strain, I now accepted, was good. Instead of seeing this discomfort as a sensation to avoid, I began to understand it the same way that a bodybuilder understands muscle burn: a sign that you’re doing something right."

Embrace discomfort. Put your head down. Keep writing. Continue creating. Push through the crap. The success will come.