We owe it to ourselves to be uncomfortable.
There’s always a reason not to do the thing.
To skip the call.
To delay the experiment.
To sit in the comfort zone for one more day.
But if you want an uncommon life, it won’t be built with common decisions.
Here’s the truth I’ve had to learn the hard way, and I repeat it to myself constantly:
Everything I want is on the other side of being uncomfortable.
That decision you’re avoiding?
That pitch you haven’t made?
That product you haven’t launched?
That conversation you’re scared to have?
Those are the doors.
Uncomfortable is the key.
I’m not talking about being reckless.
I’m talking about bold, intentional discomfort.
The kind that makes you grow. I’m not a fan, but I know where this feeling leads.
The people around you may not like it.
They’ll raise eyebrows.
They’ll project their own doubts onto your path.
They’ll feel uncomfortable with your decisions.
That’s a feature, not a bug.
When your choices make people squirm, it usually means you’re headed somewhere rare.
Success, freedom, and transformation don’t come from staying safe. They come from stepping forward when it feels easier to stay put.
So here’s your challenge this week:
Find the thing that makes you uncomfortable—then do it anyway.
Not next month. Not when you feel ready.
This week.
Because once you get used to choosing discomfort on purpose, you start unlocking everything you’ve ever wanted.
Let me show you what this looks like in real life.
I’m not naturally bold.
I don’t love public speaking.
And I’ve always had a deep discomfort about failing publicly.
But over the years, I’ve learned how to re-frame all of that.
Instead of letting discomfort hold me back, I treat it as fuel.
Here’s how I do it:
I imagine that uncomfortable feeling as energy.
And I carry it with me in what I call my Energy Backpack.
Every time I feel uncomfortable, I don’t try to shut it down.
I visualize stuffing it into my backpack.
Before I walked on stage to speak to eBay’s top 100 executives,
that backpack was overflowing.
I looked at that room of high-level leaders and thought, What do I have to offer them?
But I didn’t run. I reached into the discomfort, pulled out the energy, and delivered.
Same when I sit across the table from a room full of bankers to talk about financing a deal.
(And I h@te talking to bankers.)
But I’ve trained myself to draw power from that discomfort.
To tap into it, not hide from it.
You can do the same.
Start visualizing the uncomfortable feelings as energy—not a wall in front of you, but a fire behind you.
That’s how you push forward.
That’s how you lead.
That’s how you win.
Let’s get uncomfortable.
~ Shannon Jean
I share tools to live an uncommon life.
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