Lean In

Comfort, we tend to seek it over all else. After all, our bodies primary responsibility is to chase and maintain homeostasis. In short that means we don’t like change, we don’t like discomfort and in most cases we would prefer to avoid “stimulus”. Stimulus is the catalyst to any kind of change, it could be good change or bad change but in the purest form minus our intelligence, our body doesn’t know the difference. So, we avoid almost all stimulus that would lead to any kind of adaptation. I lead with all of this today not to bore you, but to bring awareness to you. 

Growth is a choice and it must be sought after, it must be pursued. By growth, I mean any kind of improvement and it could be physical, emotional, spiritual or intellectual, and yes I do believe that each have their own compartment within us. Most people and in most instances they want to simply “show up and do work” to get better. One doesn’t simply “show up and do work” to get  better however, you must be present, you must be conscious, you must seek the stimulus. This brings me to today’s message, “lean in”. 

I want you to “lean in” to the challenges that your growth will require. In moments of physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual discomfort, “lean in”. You see because we don’t like change, the pain of stimulus is often undesirable so we “lean away”. I’m asking you to “lean in”, feel the pain, feel the pressure and choose it anyways. In fact I want to challenge you today to go deeper into it, when you feel it, double down, in the moment of discomfort “lean in”. If you develop this self cue and even thought process you will develop the confidence to do it more often. It is easiest to envision with physical discomfort or change. Pretend you are in a workout and in the middle of a WOD or a very heavy set of 15 reps you get just over half way there and pain in your muscles is settling in, you start to feel the “burn” and your body isn’t responding the way you hoped it would, in this situation it is easy to “lean away” or “find a way out” (likely the easy way out). But don’t, instead “lean in”. Instead of thinking, “I may not make it” or “what if I don’t make it” or “what if I slow down”. Change the conversation in your mind to, “what if I can”, “what if I make it”, and cue yourself to “lean in” to the discomfort because you know it is only temporary and will lead you to the promise land of your desires.