Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable

When you set out to achieve a goal, no matter what it is, it requires moving outside of your comfort zone.   While collaborating on opening our studio, we were put in many situations where we felt lost and vulnerable simply because we had never opened up a studio before. We soon realized that we have both been in various situations where we had to dig deep and really challenge ourselves to overcome an obstacle or achieve a goal. Adam has experienced this in training, while Kimberly has experienced this in her career choice, but the one commonality was that by moving outside of our comfort zone, we were able to find the path to success.

"If there is anything I have learned in my years of training, it is that my greatest progress has come when I have challenged myself to master a type of training that was extremely difficult for me to grasp.  Whether it was due to being unfamiliar with the training, not being genetically built for that type of training, or just simply that it had never previously peaked my interest, when I emersed myself in that particular form of training I found the same thing happened every time: I would make significant strength, endurance, flexibility, or aesthetic gains simply due to all of the challenges physiologically that came with working well outside my comfort zone.  I am not going to embelish the reality of these persuits by any means and say that the experience was incredibly pleasant.  I can however tell you that once I got through the initial 6-12 weeks of adaption to the new and unfamiliar training practices I found many benefits that made the humbling process well worth the discomfort.  The period of discomfort had one very obvious benefit, that was pretty instantly realized, and that was self discovery.  This one attribute is the one that I feel is most closely linked to personal growth.  Taking the time and effort to challenge yourself with something that will produce uncertainty, feelings of inadequacy, and sensations of anxiety will likely produce improvement in many areas of yourself that you don't readily work through.  In the pursuit of starting my own business I have realized that this will be a prime environment for discomfort.  I am very excited about all of the personal growth and improvement I will experience during this immense learning experience.  The best strategy I can have when things seem to feel overwhelming and insurmountable is to continue to focus on the process and learn as much as I can with each new challenge." - Adam

"I get bored easily and am constantly trying to find different ways to challenge myself and once I mastered one challenge I simply move onto the next one. However, the one time that I was truly humbled by the state of vulnerability I was left in was when I was about to graduate from law school  and I realized that I did not want to follow the path of others and take a job at a law firm as an attorney. I realized that I did not want to be a lawyer, instead I wanted to open my own fitness studio. Now many of you (and many others in my life) may question my decision to spend years (and money) in law school only to graduate and open up a fitness studio. I knew that I had chosen the path less taken and I knew this path was going to be bumpy, uncomfortable and scary. But what made me follow that path was my ultimate desire to open my own business and the success that may bring with it. This process has been very challenging, especially since this the first time I have done this, but instead of throwing in the towel and giving up, I have learned to just accept the fact that there are times where I feel overwhelmed, scared and uncomfortable and just move on. I have realized that it is okay to feel those things, in fact it is almost necessary to feel that way, because in order to truly achieve your goals you have to work for it, through the good times and bad. So whatever  goal you have, just stick with it and know that it is okay that there are times that you have no idea what you are doing...the payoff will be immeasurable."-Kimberly