LET ME MAKE YOU AS UNCOMFORTABLE AS POSSIBLE

By:?Craig Mitchell

President,?Robroy Industries Enclosures Division

?

Admiral?William McRaven is a retired 4-Star Admiral, a 37-year Navy Seal, and?the former Commander of all U.S. Special Operation Forces.

Quite?a resume.

He?is the sort of person whom, when he talks, people listen, or at?least they sure should!

In?his book: MAKE YOUR BED, Admiral McRaven talks about “Hell Week”, the toughest part of the Navy Seal’s grueling training program?featuring six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental?harassment, and one special day at the mudflats where aspiring Seals?spend 15 hours trying to survive freezing cold,?howling wind, and?incessant pressure to quit from the instructors --- while literally?up?to their necks in swamp mud.

In?Admiral McRaven’s words: “The?mud consumed each man until there was nothing visible but our heads.?The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would?quit. Looking around the mudflat it was apparent that?some students?were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun?came up. Eight more hours of bone chilling cold, teeth chattering and?shivering moans of the trainees were so loud, it was?hard to hear?anything. And then one voice began to echo through the night. One?voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune but sung?with great enthusiasm. One voice became two and two?became three and?before long everyone in the class was singing. The instructors?threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing,?but the singing persisted and somehow the mud?seemed a little warmer.?And the wind a little tamer and the dawn, not so far away.”

The?lesson learned by Admiral McRaven? Again, in his words:

“If?you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your?neck in mud.”

Not?many of us have withstood the rigors of becoming Navy Seals, but?all of us have faced uncomfortable situations in our daily?professional and personal lives.

Often?times, talk around the water cooler focuses on such times. None of us?likes discomfort. We often default to many other activities in?efforts to avoid being out of our comfort zone, or at least to?put?it off as long as possible.

We?should, I believe, take the words and advice of?Admiral McRaven to heart: “If?you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your?neck in mud.”

So,?what is good and positive about being uncomfortable?

Surprisingly:?plenty.

First:?being uncomfortable, especially in new or challenging situations, actually can give a person a performance “edge.” Think back to?times in which you have under-performed. I think you’ll realize?that?on many such occasions you were too relaxed, too complacent, too comfortable. The result: your edge was lost, and you did not?do as well as you might have had discomfort caused you to be?better?prepared and more situationally aware.

Second:?being uncomfortable, and accepting it, is essentially the?foundation for learning, growing, and improving. A person who is?absolutely unwilling to explore outside his or her personal comfort?zone, will be inflexible by nature and incapable of changing to meet?changing times and needs. The person who embraces discomfort as a?motivation for discovering new and better ways, will continue?to?evolve and?achieve?progress.

Third:?being uncomfortable is part of the human condition. That means you?have two choices. You can complain and whine and feel sorry for yourself. Or: you can be the type of person who is dedicated?to?changing for the better all that you are capable of changing, and?accepting with grace and strength, that which you cannot change.

During?each of our lives we will encounter mudflats.

We?will each fall in the mud. The?mud will swallow us up to our heads.

Some?of us will find a way out of the mud, clean ourselves up, and move forward.

There?will be mud on the road ahead.

Some?of it can’t be avoided.

Don’t?fear it. It can make you better.

There?will be mud on the road ahead.

Get?ready to sing.?