3152: Give Up Comfort by Leo Babauta of Zen Habits on How To Build Resiliency & Becoming Resilient

[00:00:00] Your brain needs support. And new Oli brain-eachews are a delightful way to take care of your cognitive health.

[00:00:07] Made with scientifically backed ingredients like Thai ginger, L-theanine and caffeine.

[00:00:11] Brain-eachews support healthy brain function and help you find your focus. Stay chill. Or get energized.

[00:00:17] Be kind to your mind and get these new tropic chews at oli.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com.

[00:00:23] These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

[00:00:26] This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

[00:00:30] This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Whether you're selling a little or a lot.

[00:00:36] Shopify helps you do your thing, however you chitching.

[00:00:40] From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the, we just hit a million orders, stage.

[00:00:46] No matter what stage you're in, Shopify's there to help you grow.

[00:00:49] Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash Special Offer, all lowercase.

[00:00:55] That's Shopify.com slash Special Offer.

[00:00:59] This is Optimal Living Daily Episode 3152 Give Up Comfort by Leo Babata of Zenhabits.net

[00:01:07] And I'm Justin Malik here to help you find a little bit of extra inspiration, motivation or happiness in your day.

[00:01:14] So with that let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:22] Give Up Comfort by Leo Babata of Zenhabits.net

[00:01:28] I was boarding an airplane today and the woman ahead of me had a huge travel pillow, a blanket

[00:01:35] and a few other items designed to give her maximum comfort on the flight.

[00:01:39] Someone I know was about to go on a trip and they spent a month worrying about whether they would have everything

[00:01:45] they could possibly need to be comfortable.

[00:01:48] And most of us are like this. We spend a good amount of time and effort worrying about our comfort

[00:01:54] and a good amount of money buying things and carrying things that will ensure we have a cocoon of comfort surrounding us at all times.

[00:02:03] This is understandable and I say it all without judgment.

[00:02:07] It's how we react to the insecurity of travel, of doing something we're not used to doing,

[00:02:13] of not knowing how to deal with a situation, the insecurity of everyday life.

[00:02:19] Myself I go into research mode trying to find out everything I can about an insecure situation.

[00:02:25] Then I might go into buying mode getting the gear I need to make myself more secure.

[00:02:30] Then I might go into planning mode trying to get control of the insecure situation.

[00:02:36] This is how we are. We spend time researching, buying, planning, worrying,

[00:02:43] stressing about the insecure situation, trying to ensure our comfort.

[00:02:49] But what if we could let go of concern for our comfort?

[00:02:53] What if we could dive fully into the insecurity of the situation and stay in the insecurity without needing to change it?

[00:03:01] It would transform our lives. It would transform us.

[00:03:06] A thought experiment.

[00:03:08] Imagine going on a trip with just the bare essentials.

[00:03:12] A change of clothes, a few toiletries, toothbrush, soap, deodorant, your passport, and your phone charging cord.

[00:03:20] Nothing to ensure your comfort.

[00:03:23] You would feel insecurity about the situation.

[00:03:26] All the what ifs would come to mind. All the what abouts would come up.

[00:03:31] All the but I might needs would arise.

[00:03:34] Your comfort would not be guaranteed.

[00:03:37] You go through the airport without protection, just your passport and the digital boarding pass on your phone.

[00:03:43] Turns out this uncertain insecure situation wasn't so bad.

[00:03:48] You make it to your gate, sit at one of the chairs and read a book on your phone as it charges.

[00:03:54] You feel the insecurity of the situation, and it's not a problem.

[00:03:59] You sit still for a moment and allow yourself to fully feel the sensations of insecurity in your body.

[00:04:05] You open your heart to the feelings of uncertainty, the stress.

[00:04:10] You relax into it and it becomes peaceful shakiness.

[00:04:15] You drop your ego and are present with the pure experience of the moment. It's beautiful.

[00:04:21] You get on the plane and don't have a pillow or anything.

[00:04:25] It's actually completely fine as you sit at your seats and read your book some more.

[00:04:30] You feel like you should research the place where you're going, plan things out,

[00:04:35] know exactly what you're going to do and everything you need to know.

[00:04:39] You resist acting on those urges that stem from insecurity and instead allow yourself to feel the fear, stress and insecurity.

[00:04:48] You practice with it, feeling it fully in your heart, becoming friends with it, not shying away from it.

[00:04:55] You're fine and everything is okay.

[00:04:59] You get to your destination and figure out the train system, getting to your budget hotel just fine.

[00:05:05] You drop off your little bag and walk around without a plan.

[00:05:09] You feel the insecurity of being in this place without all your comforts.

[00:05:13] And by now you're good at practicing with this insecurity and you've begun to welcome it.

[00:05:19] It becomes a feeling of freedom and excitement, of openness and curiosity.

[00:05:26] You have none of your comforts from home and yet it turns out you didn't need them.

[00:05:32] None of the discomfort is that bad. You've suffered much worse before.

[00:05:36] You don't have your nightly wine or your morning coffee, two of your favorite comforts.

[00:05:41] And guess what? Nothing falls apart.

[00:05:44] Or more accurately, things fall apart and you relax into it all, realizing that you can be fully open-hearted when things are falling apart.

[00:05:54] And it's beautiful.

[00:05:56] This trip with its delicious discomforts teaches you that all your efforts and stresses spent trying to build up your comfort

[00:06:04] and rid yourself of insecure situations are completely wasted.

[00:06:09] Every day insecurity.

[00:06:12] Back home, this same idea applies to our everyday lives.

[00:06:17] Imagine going through the day without all the security and comforts we're used to.

[00:06:22] You have only the clothes on your back, a notebook, a book, some toiletries,

[00:06:29] a handful of real foods barely prepared, some water.

[00:06:33] Imagine this being all you had for the day.

[00:06:36] You could go for a walk. Perhaps barefoot if you felt like it.

[00:06:40] You don't need a gym, just do some push-ups.

[00:06:43] You graze when you're hungry, swig some water when you're thirsty,

[00:06:47] but don't stress about having all your comfort foods and drinks.

[00:06:51] You read, you meditate, you lounge around in the sun, you do more push-ups.

[00:06:57] You go for another walk, you write in your notebook.

[00:07:00] When insecurity comes up, you practice as you did on your trip.

[00:07:05] You don't need to look anything up, nor plan, nor buy things, nor be prepared.

[00:07:11] You have all you need and the insecurity is absolutely fine,

[00:07:16] the ground of your life, lovely and ever-present.

[00:07:20] You can try to give yourself all the comforts in the world, but discomfort still comes.

[00:07:26] You can try to rid yourself of insecure situations and yet,

[00:07:30] insecurity will still be there.

[00:07:33] You can give up your comfort and relax into the discomforts

[00:07:37] and in fact, there is no problem.

[00:07:40] The discomfort becomes a friend of yours just like the insecurity.

[00:07:46] You are free.

[00:07:52] You just listened to the post titled

[00:07:54] Give Up Comfort by Leo Babouda of ZenHabits.net

[00:07:58] and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:08:28] I even looked them up myself on a third-party lab testing site because I'm super careful.

[00:08:34] And after reading the reviews for their GI relief supplement, I tried it myself.

[00:08:39] And so far, it's working wonders.

[00:08:58] This episode is brought to you by Bumble.

[00:09:13] So, you want to find someone you're compatible with,

[00:09:16] specifically someone who's ready for a series connection,

[00:09:19] totally open to having kids in the future,

[00:09:21] is a tall, rock climbing Libra,

[00:09:23] and loves rom-coms with vegan pizzas on Tuesdays just as much as you do.

[00:09:28] Bumble knows that you know exactly what's right for you,

[00:09:31] so whatever it is you're looking for,

[00:09:33] Bumble's features can help you find it.

[00:09:35] Date now on Bumble.

[00:09:38] Thank you to Leo.

[00:09:40] A recurring theme for this podcast is definitely getting comfortable with being uncomfortable

[00:09:46] and unfortunately, it's one of those easier said than done type things.

[00:09:50] But when we really think about the times when we grew the most,

[00:09:54] we were probably uncomfortable to some extent.

[00:09:58] For me, starting this podcast, definitely lots of discomfort.

[00:10:03] Going way up in the Rocky Mountains to volunteer at a meditation retreat center,

[00:10:08] also uncomfortable, sleeping in a tent with a guy I met that day.

[00:10:12] Exercise is uncomfortable, but these things are necessary for growth.

[00:10:17] And it's something we forget easily when, like Leo said, we're in planning mode.

[00:10:23] Now granted, some discomfort will go the other way and not be a great experience after the fact,

[00:10:29] but we still would have learned from it and grown in some way, right?

[00:10:34] That's the plus side.

[00:10:36] But again, without that discomfort, we're stagnant.

[00:10:39] So like Leo said, maybe we can learn to make that discomfort more of a friend than an enemy.

[00:10:45] Something to think about this weekend when we're often looking for as much comfort as possible.

[00:10:50] Have a great weekend, thank you for being here and listening every day,

[00:10:53] and I'll see you back here tomorrow.

[00:10:56] Where your optimal life awaits.