[2022-01-14] The rewards of being uncomfortable
Atomic Habits author James Clear asked in his weekly newsletter:
Are you willing to be uncomfortable for 5 minutes?
Exercising is easier once you've started the workout.
Conversation is easier once you're already talking.
Writing is easier once you're in the middle of it.
But many rewards in life will elude you if you're not willing to be a little uncomfortable at first.
When I read this, I immediately thought of the discomfort I often feel in the initial moments of speaking French. The first five minutes are the most challenging. The part of my brain that stores French vocabulary feels like an old car that's sputtering as I try to start it. Inevitably, I stall the car a few times and perhaps grind the gears a little. But eventually, I manage to overcome inertia, get moving, and reach my cruising speed. When I get to this point, I find it easier to talk in my second language.
Sometimes, after about 20 minutes of assiduous effort to speak French, my brain grows tired. I feel like I'm running out of gas. When circumstances permit, I abandon my slow-moving, gas-guzzling French car for my speedy, efficient English car. But when I don't have the ability to return to my comfort zone, I persevere in speaking French, and that's when I learn the most. I learn that I can converse in French for longer than I thought possible, that I know more French vocabulary than I realize, and that it's OK that my French is not perfect (as long as I get from point A to point B).
Without the willingness to be uncomfortable and to look or feel a little rusty, we'd never reach the point of flow—that moment when things click into place and we're speaking, writing, exercising or conversing with relative ease.
