Join getAbstract to access the summary!

The Beauty of Discomfort

Join getAbstract to access the summary!

The Beauty of Discomfort

How What We Avoid Is What We Need

HarperCollins,

15 min read
8 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

To improve yourself or your company, get comfortable with discomfort.

  • 0.5×
  • 0.75×
  • 1×
  • 1.25×
  • 1.5×
  • 1.75×
1×

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative
  • Concrete Examples
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

In this thoughtful collection of case studies, Amanda Lang, author of The Power of Why, presents personal development concepts that she illustrates with concrete business examples. She assures readers that change can be positive, but determining how to change is difficult. Lang demonstrates her theory-in-action with fascinating stories of athletes, military leaders, and long-term and novice executives. Each mini-bio is engaging and provides glimpses into the lives of fascinating people who accepted discomfort in order to thrive. The stories deliver Lang’s motivational self-help messages.

Summary

Successful people demonstrate “comfort with discomfort.”

For many people and in many circumstances, change is uncomfortable. Whether you’re starting a diet, modifying a departmental policy, getting a divorce or launching a new business, the process you undergo can be unpleasant. How you tolerate and then embrace change may play a pivotal role in your success. Some creative and successful people don’t merely endure change; they seek it out over and over, demonstrating a comfort with discomfort. These innovators transform discomfort from a threat to an “encouraging sign.” The results: resiliency, success and happiness.

Accepting discomfort is easier if you find a valuable meaning behind it.

The ability to adapt to new processes, circumstances or ways of thinking is fundamental to your success. Accept change by finding a valuable meaning behind it. Change your mind-set or attitude, and think through your actions. You can reframe the sense of discomfort, shut out negative thoughts, invent a sense of perceived control, reinvent yourself or revamp your thinking. To change something large like a business, change your personal relationship with discomfort...

About the Author

Amanda Lang is an anchor for BNN Bloomberg. She also wrote The Power of Why.

Comment on this summary

  • Avatar
    Sign in to share your opinion
  • Avatar
    R. I. 5 months ago
    n/a
  • Avatar
    M. L. 1 year ago
    Feeling more at ease already. This summary really did a great job of explaining the importance of change and how to handle the extreme discomfort or pain that comes along with it. Definitely interested in purchasing the book to read in its entirety.