How to Be Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

 Several years ago, I found myself in a bad place. Seemingly out of the blue I was hit with severe and debilitating anxiety. I was so ill-educated on mental health that when I began having back-to-back panic attacks I honestly thought I was dying. It was such an intense experience and it completely changed my life. 

 After battling this anxiety for some time, I was exhausted. I knew that I couldn’t continue like this and had to do something about it. Catching the bus to work was a nightmare. Walking to the local park was a nightmare. Almost every day-to-day activity had become a nightmare. I didn’t want to leave the house and I was scared of almost everything. I felt that my mind was broken.

 To address my anxiety, I decided that I needed to better understand what was happening to me. I went to the doctor who confirmed that I was facing acute anxiety and panic attacks. I was given a few things that I could do, but the big shift happened when I started educating myself and taking personal control of the situation. I began reading extensively on mental health, philosophy and psychology and became desperate to find a solution.

 I’ve never read so much in my life and credit this as being the biggest reason for turning things around. The ideas I encountered on this journey were truly fascinating! I read books on subjects I previously knew nothing about and became obsessed with how practical a lot of these ideas were. CBT, Buddhism and Growth Mindset were some of the subjects that really resonated with me and I gained a lot from studying them in detail. However, the idea that changed it all for me was Stoicism. This ancient Greek philosophy is all about building a strong, resilient character and I fell in love with it. There are so many pragmatic ideas within Stoicism and a lot of these really helped me to deal with my anxiety. 

 The core concept within Stoicism that I latched onto was the idea of practising adversity. The Stoics used to deliberately step outside of their comfort zones in order to build mental strength. They would do this in loads of different ways; they would expose themselves to the heat and the cold; they would fast from food and water; they would deliberately sleep on the floor to practise discomfort and they would wear stupid things to practise feeling embarrassed. The Stoics would do loads of these challenges as a way to test out their philosophy and to train for the chaos of life. They prepared for adversity by practising adversity. Everything was framed as a “test of character” or “character building”. 

 I love the Rocky movies. There’s a moment in one of the films where Rocky decides that he’s going to commit to the fight and starts training. We then see a montage of Rocky chasing chickens, doing loads of gym exercises and running up steps as preparation for the fight. I began to picture myself in Rocky’s shoes doing Stoic-inspired challenges as a way to train for life and to build a stronger mindset. I loved this idea so much that I decided I would commit to it. This would be my “therapy” of choice and my answer to the question of anxiety.

 I started creating challenges based on the ideas within Stoicism and then expanded this to include modern challenges that were very relevant to me. I looked at ways to push my body and mind in different directions and had a lot of fun creating a massive list of challenges. I also looked at my fears and how I could turn them into challenges. This was a very fun and creative process and some of my ideas ended up being quite bizarre!

 Armed with all of my tools and tricks for dealing with adversity (thanks to the many books I had been reading), I began attacking my list of challenges. It started off slowly but over time picked up momentum. Each time I completed a new challenge, I gained confidence. After a while, I stopped having panic attacks. Progress! From this moment on, I knew that I would experience massive personal growth from this whole experiment. I didn’t look back and before I knew it I was living more adventurously than I could have ever imagined and had managed to bring colour and excitement back into my life. 

 The challenges have been extremely diverse and have taught me so much about myself. I ran my first marathon, completed an obstacle course and climbed mountains. I learned how to solve a Rubik’s cube in under a minute, fold complicated origami models and pick locks. I’ve slept in unusual places, eaten strange food and queued for absolutely no purpose other than to test my mindset. I’ve been learning Japanese and can now have a conversation in the language without my brain hurting too much (well, almost). I’ve taken ice-baths, swam in the British sea in winter and have started to meditate. I’ve fasted, got up ridiculously early and faced a massive fear of needles by getting acupuncture. I’ve completed challenges in the gym and challenges in my home. I’ve been on adventures all over the world and done things that I never thought I would be capable of. This is just scratching the surface though and there are loads more challenges that I’ve been completing in the name of self-improvement.

 The main take-home from this project is that my relationship with anxiety has completely changed. I am a very different person and now have a set of tools and tricks for dealing with adversity. All of these challenges have allowed me to test out the philosophical tips and tricks that I have been studying. The “controlled environment” of these challenges has allowed me to really pay attention to what my mind does when things get difficult. If I can stop myself from freaking out whilst hanging on a rope 200 meters above the ground, I know that I can do the same in a less intimidating environment.

 If we can start to reframe the challenges we face as a “test of character” rather than a disastrous event, we can turn a negative into a positive. Initially, experiencing anxiety and panic attacks seemed like the worst thing imaginable, but I now see it as one of the greatest things that has happened to me. It’s been a reason for extremely positive change in my life and has taught me so much about myself. I’ve even written my first book thanks to this whole experience!

 I believe that stepping outside of our comfort zones is the greatest way to build mental strength. Stoic-inspired challenges can be a great way to build resilience and I would encourage you to make this practice part of your life. It starts off small but over time grows into something bigger. Who knows where you’ll end up! And that is very exciting. So why not jump in a cold shower right now, test your mind and see what happens?

“I believe that stepping outside of our comfort zones is the greatest way to build mental strength.”