Episode 1124: Getting Comfortable With Discomfort

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining me on episode 1,124 of the inspired stewardship podcast.

[00:00:08] Stephanie Scheller: I'm Stephanie Scheller. I challenge you to invest in yourself. Invest in others, develop your influence and create your greatest impact on the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling.

[00:00:20] Grow yourself. Be inspired. Listen to the inspired stewardship podcast with Scott Maderer.

[00:00:27] Scott Maderer: the truth is it's about looking for those risks that you can take, and you can be comfortable with the fact that you aren't comfortable. This mindset is one of growth because it's what allows you to constantly push and identify what else is in my zone of control. What else can I take ownership of? What else can I make sure I am stewarding well, welcome.

[00:00:52] And thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who [00:01:00] God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time. Your talent and your treasures for your true calling and the inspired stewardship podcast. We'll learn to invest in yourself, invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:18] And today's episode about investing in others through stewarding your talent. I talk with you about why we need to get comfortable with discomfort. I also share six questions. You can ask yourself to know how comfortable you really are with discomfort and explain why this mindset is one that leads to growth.

[00:01:37] You've heard me talk about developing your talent and one of the best ways to do that is through. But if you're like most people today, it's hard to find the time to read. And that's why today's podcast is brought to you by audible. Go to inspired stewardship.com/audible to sign up and you can get a 30 day free trial.

[00:01:59] There's [00:02:00] over 180,000 titles to choose from. And you can pick one and listen your way to developing your talents via. That's inspired stewardship.com/audible to get your free trial and listen to great books the same way you're listening to this podcast. You've probably seen me memes or graphics or articles that talk about the idea of being in your comfort zone, your courage zone, your terrors own, or sometimes you'll see your comfort zone, your learnings zone, and.

[00:02:34] You're shutdown zone or your inability zone. You hear people talk about being in your zone of genius, which often includes a certain sense of discomfort. And if you're like me, a lot of times I've seen those and there's been times in my life when I've pushed back against them. I've said the truth is.

[00:02:53] I'm always in a zone of discomfort. I'm always in a zone where I have to show a certain amount of courage. [00:03:00] I have challenges that are coming my way and I, I'm not playing it safe, but there are times in my life that I want to have a certain amount of comfort with things. And that's still true. And that is true.

[00:03:14] And that's okay too, but there's still a part of you that has to probably work to get more comfort. With the idea of discomfort, because at the end of the day, the truth is that often times we're not pushing ourselves as much as we could. We're not doing things this sometimes it's talked about in terms of resilience or that which could be defined as that ability to bounce back after something bad happened.

[00:03:44] But it's also about how do we deal with, and how do we function in times of uncertainty and change. And I think living through the pandemic the last few years, a lot of us have had a lot of uncertainty and. And if you think about it, you've [00:04:00] probably seen some people, maybe you, maybe people who shut down during this time and just did nothing that sucked inward.

[00:04:08] And you probably seen other people who almost seem to have thrived during this time. I've seen businesses grow and I've seen businesses fail. I've seen people have great personal success, and I've seen people struggling with mental health and all of those other things that go on during a time of uncertain.

[00:04:25] And the real reality is that getting comforter with discomfort, by consciously making a decision to recognize I'm afraid I'm uncomfortable. I'm not sure whether this is something I can do and then stepping forward. Anyway, this is why it's sometimes called the courage zone or the confidence zone is because you have to be able to say I am uncomfortable.

[00:04:51] I am scared. I am nervous. I'm not sure I can do this, but I choose to do it anyway. Like I've talked about the [00:05:00] last few episodes. A lot of this is about giving yourself the power of choice. It's about recognizing that you do have the power to choose. It's about choosing to go forward, even if you're uncovered.

[00:05:15] And in fact, sometimes it's about recognizing that when those moments of discomfort come up, these are probably things that we actually should be doing. So here's some questions to ask yourself, as you're thinking about how comfortable are you with the idea of pushing forward, even in times of discomfort, even in times of change, even in times of uncertainty, Do I keep doing what's always been done or I try to challenge old assumptions and try new approaches to problems.

[00:05:49] In other words, are you part of the, but we've always done it that way. Crowd, are you okay with looking for new solutions to old problems? You've heard the [00:06:00] quote about the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. And yet the truth is a lot of us do the same thing over and expect a different result.

[00:06:10] Are you okay with recognizing that and trying something different experimenting? See if it will work. Second question. Do I proactively seek out new challenges? Are, do I just work to manage those? I already have, and again, I understand there are times in your life. You're so overwhelmed with what's going on, that you can't seek out new challenges because managing what you've got is that's it, that's all you can handle, but most of our lives that isn't true.

[00:06:37] And yet, do you, in those times, when things settle down, when things get a little easier, do you now seek out new challenges or do you sit back instead and go, oh good. Now I have nothing to manage. I'm okay. I can just zone out and vege the next. Do I risk being exposed and vulnerable or do I always act to protect my pride and [00:07:00] my own little patch of power?

[00:07:02] Are you okay with being shown that maybe you're not the smartest person in the room? Are you okay with not knowing the answer to every question? Are you okay with admitting that you've made a mistake or is it all about making sure that you look the best you can. Next question. Do I ask for what I really want?

[00:07:22] Or do I just ask for what others want to give me? Are you willing to push a little bit and say that's good, but what else can you do? What else can you have for me? This is something that's important to me. So I really want to make sure this happens. Are you okay, by the way, also giving over power to others over things that maybe aren't as important to you.

[00:07:46] Can you delegate well and let others take control and not be afraid about that? Or do you have to hold on to everything? Next question. Do I toot my own horn or do I speak up and let others know [00:08:00] what I'm good at? What I'm capable of and what I've done or do I just hope that someone will know. And the last one, do I speak my mind?

[00:08:09] If something has come up are my afraid to ruffle feathers or allow myself to be open to criticize. It's not about just being open to risk. It's also about speaking up and taking some ownership. This is why it's about making choices. This is also why it's important to talk about and know what you value.

[00:08:29] And what's important to you because it's hard to speak up about what's important to you. If you don't know what is important to you, the truth is it's about looking for those risks that you can take, and you can be comfortable with the fact that you aren't comfortable. This mindset is one of growth because it's what allows you to constantly push and identify what else is in my zone of control.

[00:08:54] What else can I take ownership of? What else can I make sure I am stewarding [00:09:00] well and allowing to work in the way that allows me to be everything I'm supposed to be. So that I can make sure I serve those around me and allow them to be the most that they can be. It's what allows, not just you to take the risk, but the people around you to take those risks and be safe while they do it.

[00:09:23] It's about safety because it's about being comfortable with the fact that you may fail. It's about being comfortable with the fact that even if you do it, doesn't matter because you've learned and you've moved forward. There's a difference between fatal failure and non-fatal failure. And as long as it's non-fatal failure, it's really just an experiment.

[00:09:43] It's really just one more thing that you've learned. One more chance that you've gone to bat. One more chance that you've gotten comfortable with your discomfort and grown. Thanks for calling.

[00:09:55] Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast [00:10:00] as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your call. If you liked this episode on the stewardship of talent, you can go over to inspired stewardship.com/talent and sign up for our five week series on the stewardship of talent.

[00:10:26] Or if you're in the U S you can text 4, 4, 2, 2, 2 talent tips. That's talent tips to 4 4, 2, 2, 2, and get those tips until next time. Your talent and your treasures develop your influence and impact the world.