Discomfort is the Pathway to Change

It was just like yesterday when I joined the high school swimming team. I learned swimming from my mother when I was six. Learning how to swim was fun because I love the water. It was not a question if I would learn how to swim; it was a matter of when I could swim without relying on any floating devices. I was six years old. Fast forward to four years later. I was taking semi-private swimming lessons with my sister. The coach taught me all four strokes, and I would say that his techniques were proper. Although swimming lessons stopped, I continued to swim regularly – leisurely. Joining the high school swimming team was my first experience of competitive swimming. I trained with my classmates, three times a week after school. The swim set was manageable, almost comfortable. During those couple of years, my personal best times improved slightly at best. When I transferred to another high school, I joined their high school team. As I was expecting a similar level of training, I was shocked when I was told to train five days a week, early in the morning, and almost twice as long as my previous practice.

That was hard. The cultural shock was real. At first, I was struggling to keep up, to continue to swim despite feeling tired. I still remember that burning sensation on my thighs. My arms felt as if they were not mine. I was far from feeling comfortable. Gradually, I was building endurance. I also noticed my arm muscles were getting more defined. The hard work paid off – although I was not a fast swimmer compared to others, my best times significantly improved.

Although most of us want to be comfortable, it is being in discomfort that makes us grow. Of course, the important question to ask yourself before you do something uncomfortable is: Will doing this help you grow or get closer to your goal? If the answer is no, do not bother. If the answer is yes, take the first step and go for it.

Uncertainty is one of the biggest reasons for discomfort. You are not sure if this method is going to work but you believe it is going to. Give it a try.

The next question to ask yourself is: What is the worst that can happen (if you try it and not get your desired result)? In most cases, you are gaining the experience of doing that uncomfortable thing, and you are practicing to be more comfortable in doing uncomfortable things.

By the same token, ask yourself: What is the best that can happen? Even if it is not the best outcome, in most circumstances, you are moving closer toward your desired goal.

Trying something new is not comfortable. There is the uncertainty factor – does it work, can I master it, is that the best way? And possibly many other more questions. You are not going to be completely ready. Believing that you can be more ready than you are to take the first step will probably cause you not to take the very first move for a long time (or even forever).

Do it anyway while reminding yourself of those three questions.

For example, you, as a physician, want to be more efficient in patient documentation. Many nights you end up charting in the evenings. You believed you have tried all ways possible until someone pointed out to you to see a patient and finish the chart before moving on to the next patient – throughout the day.

Your belief that it was impossible to keep up with charting after every single patient was so strong that you did not entertain that way of charting (the whole day) was a possibility. Your goal is to be more efficient to finish your work earlier.

The worst that can happen is that the subsequent patients may be waiting for you longer. You think that the patients may be upset about waiting for 45 minutes to an hour. Some patients may leave your practice because of the wait time – question yourself if this happens frequently for any doctor. The answer is no. Physicians are very busy and the schedules are often overbooked. Although it causes you a tremendous amount of discomfort, the patient may be somewhat annoyed or may not think too much of it. Either way, we cannot control what others think.

The best case scenario is that, when you can take action despite feeling uncomfortable, when you allow other people to think what they think and be okay with it, you will keep working toward your goal of charting efficiency. Seeing the patient, doing the chart. Gradually, you find that patients are waiting less. You are running behind less. You are noticing that you are finishing your work faster and faster until, one day, you realize that you have become the person who finishes your clinical day by 5 pm instead of past 7 pm and bringing work home.

Doing uncomfortable things allows you to grow, to move closer to your goal. When you allow yourself to feel some degree of discomfort, be it from uncertainty, fear, potential judgment of others and many other uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, you open the possibility of growth. You are moving closer to your goal.