How to Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable (According to a Green Beret)

The point when you are just about to give up is the precise moment when the other guy gives up. At some point you are going to ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" You better have an answer. What is driving you? Is it something someone said or did to you? Is it a competition?

Is it a challenge? Is it something that you have to prove to yourself? Is it just pride? Whatever it is, it had better be powerful.

At some point, you are going to say to yourself, "I've never done this before" or "I don't know what I'm doing."

We've all been there. Here's a trick: Don't say it out loud. Just pretend to be confident. Fake it till you make it. It's scary, but I promise you this: When it's over, you are going to say, "It wasn't as bad as I thought it was." Fear kills more dreams than failure ever will.

Just when you think things couldn't get any worse, he shows up. "The suck" is here to make you tougher. He's a friend that arrived to make you better. Instead of complaining, celebrate the blessing that is the suck.

If you are embracing the suck by yourself, laugh at how ridiculous the situation is. You are building your mental and physical toughness points. If you are embracing the suck with others, you've just made new best friends for life.

Embracing the suck in a group is a powerful bonding experience.

Create a support network. Talk about your experiences. The worse the experience it is to you, the better the story it is to everyone else.

Soon, you will be seeking uncomfortable experiences to share with your friends. Be a good storyteller.

You are seeing your progress in real time. By nature, you are going to want to push the envelope to find out your boundaries. You will find yourself saying, "I wish it would suck more." It's our human nature to know what we are able to overcome.

There's an old Russian saying, povtorenie mat ucheniya, which means "repetition is the mother of learning."

The more you perform the same activity, the more confident you become. Confidence is a tangible thing--it comes from practice and repetition.