Study Sunday: Discomfort and Personal Growth

🤔 The Question — 

Can seeing discomfort as a sign of progress boost personal growth? A new study published on Tuesday finds that seeking discomfort can enhance motivation, persistence, emotional resilience, and more. 

⭐️ The Significance — 

The way you think about situations (reappraisal) can have powerful outcomes. 

E.g., previous research found that reframing anxiety as excitement enhanced performance. 

Reframing discomfort as growth is another promising mindset: 

“Although personal growth is difficult to detect, people know when they feel uncomfortable. They can use this as a cue that they are advancing toward their goal and be motivated to persist.” 

🧪 The Study — 

The first of five experiments took place across 55 improvisation classes at the Second City training center in Chicago.

Half of the improvisers embraced a “discomfort=growth” mindset. They were told to interpret awkwardness or uncomfortableness as a signof progress. 

The discomfort group was then compared with a control group. Their levels of persistence were measured along with risk-taking and sense of growth. 

⚡️ The Findings — 

The group who viewed discomfort as growth persisted with the exercise for 44% longer on average than the control group! Their level of risk-taking behavior was also rated 14% higher and they reported significantly higher feelings of progress. 

The other four experiments all replicated these results with discomfort-as-growth leading to enhanced emotional resilience in a writing task, openness to new information, and tolerance of opposing views. 

💎 The Takeaway — 

Growth is often uncomfortable. Whether it’s getting up in front of an audience, processing tough emotions, or pushing your physical limits: embracing discomfort can boost motivation and strengthen resolve. 

The next time you feel that resistance, lean in. Or as David Goggins put it — embrace the suck. 

👀 The Caveats — 

• Sometimes discomfort such as intense physical or emotional pain is a genuine sign that you should stop. This type of discomfort should not be ignored. 
• The study only included U.S. participants. 

This article was written by Lewis Kallow of Super Self.