Today I woke up wanting to spend the whole day in bed.
I felt a combination of being tired and lazy and that ‘enough is enough!’—whatever that means!
After a nice run (you can do this when you own your own business) I got my lazy butt to my desk about 11 am.
I REALLY did not feel like doing anything and yet I had so many things I needed to do, I realized that it was all making me very uncomfortable.
Then I remembered what my business coach and mentor Christine Kane said recently. She said: Being in business means being uncomfortable.
So today I decided to first concentrate and do on my list what makes me MOST uncomfortable. This included:
- Asking two clients for testimonials (Hate this, but it is a good thing to do.)
- Paying some big bills (Oh, I hate this.)
- Following up on a letter to a prospective client and on two referrals (Huge resistance here.)
- Writing this blogpost (do I really want to admit I am distracted – what will people think?!)
I must say after facing the discomfort, I feel much better…something is beginning to flow, my concentration is indeed more stable, more focused.
I have more energy – alot more. How about that?
Whether I work for myself or for others I am realizing that if I want to keep growing and learning, I have to come to terms with the fact that some of the time (maybe MUCH of the time) I will be UNCOMFORTABLE.
It means getting out of my cozy nest of familiar patterns – way out of them. (Please let me out of them! They are holding me back and so boring!) Even though I recognize this, I am so comfortable in them. The neural ruts are well worn.
Last week in our Skillful Means Training the Mind for Leadership Group Program, we focused on ‘Concentrating Mind’.
I see my well-worn comfortable neural ruts are keeping me from developing stable concentration.
Some part of my mind is comfortable being scattered and distracted, even though I don’t get my work completed like I want and it really tires me. So tiring, I just want to stay in bed.
Staying in bed, having low energy and avoiding the business of my business, however, is a big price to pay for distraction.
It is said in Skillful Means “All great accomplishments are based on right concentration.”
I plan to keep doing what is most uncomfortable first. It is hard, but I feel better. It is a new habit I want to build, to unblock the bottled up energy that gets diverted and neglected when I am distracted.
Want to try this, too? I am curious to know if it will help you.
What do you feel most uncomfortable doing today that you know needs to be done? Can you do it anyway? What is that like? How does it feel?
Below, please share your thoughts and experience of being uncomfortable to find your right concentration.
