We’re wired to survive.
I’d argue this is the most foundational truth underpinning humans.
If we can agree on that, I’ll show you how it’s only a couple of small hops to understanding very clearly how growth happens and what we will need to endure as part of that growth.
More money. More love. More happiness. More health. More autonomy. More energy. More joy. More focus. All areas any one of us would want to grow in.
Hop 1: Growth in any area of life requires discomfort, by our very nature.
When you’re pushing yourself to grow - working out, eating healthier, learning a new skill, improving at work - you’re putting yourself in unfamiliar situations. It’s the unfamiliarity, and subsequent adaptation as it becomes more familiar, that is driving the discomfort and growth.
So in a very real and practical way, discomfort is the primary signal to ourselves that we’re in a growth situation.
The problem isn’t in the discomfort. The problem is our response.
Hop 2: We sabotage our own growth in order to keep us right where we are.
And why would our minds do that?
The very first sentence of this post. We’re wired to survive.
This life would be a hell of a lot easier if we were wired to thrive. But alas, we aren’t. We’re wired to survive and make little copies of ourselves.
We don’t have to be perfect in the present for our monkey minds to be content. We just have to be good enough. Good enough to survive the immediate.
Trying to improve any area of our life can trigger that monkey mind to make it think we’re attacking its very nature - to survive.
So we talk ourselves out of the workout. And the next one. And the next one. And we eat away the stress. And we have the extra drink or two. And we stop prioritizing the things we know we need to do in our work. And we stop being willing to have the hard conversations - with ourselves and with others.
And our minds do what they think they need to do to keep us right where we are.
The key to growth then is this - the ability to feel the discomfort and proceed anyway.
Not inordinate willpower. Not uninterrupted enthusiasm. Not perfection. Not inspiration. Not passion. Not giftedness. Not innate intelligence. Not circumstance.
Comfort amidst the discomfort, because we can recognize it for what it is.
The primary signal that we’re growing.
✌️ and ❤️,
Adam Griffin
Certified High Performance Coach™
👉 Forward Coaching