Before we get started, allow me to expand a little more on what exactly qualifies as a “change” during this challenge.  It’s literally ANYTHING that puts you outside of your comfort zone.  There, that should clear it up for you!

In all seriousness, I’ve had a handful of people ask me that question.  And they didn’t seem very satisfied by my response.  Some people felt that the change needed to be something bigger – a grand gesture, if you will.  I disagree.  And I get to, because I made up the challenge, so technically I get to make the rules!  But I also disagree based on the fact that the main goal of this whole exercise is to increase my ability to be able to work through the discomfort of change.  I’m sure that some changes I make over this 28 day period will be large, grand gestures; but many of them will probably be small tweaks.  Little things to throw myself off in the moment.  So let’s dive in to my first three days, shall we?

Day 1: Hair cut!

• Bonus: I tried a Gummy Bear Brat (yes, it is a thing)

Day 2: Make Homemade Strawberry Puree

Day 3: Garden without Gardening Gloves

I know what you’re probably thinking, “These aren’t real changes.”  I would beg to differ.  Believe it or not, these things all had elements that made me uncomfortable.  And since this challenge is all about making yourself do something uncomfortable, it counts!  Let’s get into what is most important, and break down what I was able to learn from these (ever so small) changes.

Day 1:

I had decided already the night before that I was going to cut a significant portion of my hair off (see my previous post).  So for Day 1, I was feeling pretty confident that I had already nailed this change thing.  Cue opportunity and life.

We had a brat fry fundraiser for Juvenile Diabetes at work this day and I learned that a group of co-workers had purchased Gummy Bear Brats to toss on the grill during the cook out.  My initial reaction was “gross” (for the record, this is still my reaction).  They asked me if I’d like to try one.  Instantly I said “no”.  In that moment, my brain switched gears and became hyper aware of my reaction.

“How was it even possible that ‘no’ came out of my mouth so fast?  Are you really that afraid of a gummy bear brat?  What is the worst that could happen?”

At the conference I had attended previously this week, I was able to listen to Mel Robbins speak about her 5 Second Rule.   I acted on this principle and started my “5, 4, 3, 2, 1” and suddenly I was asking my co-worker if she could break me off half a brat to try.  She did, I tried it, it wasn’t that great, AND I survived.

But what I do have now is this great story to let others know that Gummy Bear brats exist!  It’s a conversation piece that can break the ice quickly.

Day 2:

Day 2 also happened to be Cinco de Mayo.  We were having friends over for tacos and margaritas and my girlfriend wanted to make margaritas without a mix.  So she googled a recipe and it seemed pretty simple.  Tequila, Triple Sec, Agave, Lime Juice and Strawberry puree for a little extra flavor.  I volunteered to make the puree for two reasons: 1) I’ve never made a strawberry puree before and 2) I really dislike being messy.

So after we returned from the store I grabbed my food processor and cheese cloth and got started on the puree .  It’s like someone rang the bell to start a boxing match and all I could hear in my head was “LET’S GET READY TO BE UNCOMFORTABLEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!”.

So many things bothered me.

The cheesecloth didn’t fit well into my mason jar and I was getting strawberries all over the counter (poor planning on my part).

The puree wouldn’t drain through the cheese cloth very well, so it required a manual hand squeeze to push through.

It was oozing and sticky and SO MESSY.

It took SO MANY rounds of repeating this process to get through all 2 pounds of strawberries (why did we buy so many?!).

Eventually, I finished pureeing and squeezing all the strawberries through cheese cloth.  I then furiously cleaned the kitchen.  And then I took a moment to be proud of what I did.  In all reality, it only took 30-45 minutes to get through this and the mess wasn’t all that bad.  At the end of the day, my friends were incredibly appreciative of the effort I had gone through to make the puree and our drinks were delicious!  The “hard” work paid off.

Day 3:

My husband and I enjoy adding to the landscaping in our yard every year.  We look forward to spring so that we can make weekly trips to a garden center and buy new plants.  He really enjoys the planting part.  Me, not so much.  It’s another one of those “I don’t care to be messy” types of scenarios.  So why don’t I just get a pair of garden gloves??  I have them, and I still dislike working in the dirt.  So my role is typically to go help pick out what will go in the ground, and my dear husband executes the vision!

But this day, I decided I would help participate in the planting.  I grabbed my gardening gloves and I got to work.  Throughout my planting I kept having to take my gloves off, put them back on, and repeat.  Finally, (well really after only a few times) I told myself to get over it and just plant bare handed.

OH THE HORROR!

But really, this was horrible.  It’s the most uncomfortable thing I did in the first three days.  I wanted to wash my hands immediately in between each plant that went into the ground.  But I stuck it out for a few hours and worked through the dried/caked on dirt. There was an actual sense of anxiety from having to keep dirt on my hands and work through it (yes, I have some OCD tendencies).  I am still doing some soul searching to understand if there was a bigger lesson in this.  All I can come up with is that this very small adjustment had me in an uncomfortable spot for a few hours.  And I just learned to work through it, knowing that there was an end in sight.

So what are the major lessons after the first three days?

1. Opportunities to adjust your attitude exist everywhere.  Keep yourself in the moment and be present so that you can actually recognize them.  Far too often, we make decisions that are made based on habits and not from a spot of conscious recognition.  Shifting into intentional decision making is a powerful thing.  You are far more aware of what you are agreeing (or disagreeing) to.
2. A mess can be cleaned up.  And there are plenty of times in life that a “mess” will be a prerequisite to progress.  I don’t believe it makes any difference if this is a physical or metaphorical mess.  So long as you can remember that a mess is temporary, and relies on your action to clean it up, you can always get through it.
3. Sometimes you just have to learn to live through the discomfort.  Know that this too will be temporary.  Learn to embrace the moment and look for the lesson that is hidden.  Be conscious of your feelings and hold on to what it was that you used to get yourself through that moment.  These tactics can be used in the future during a time that you didn’t have control over the change you are experiencing.

Stay tuned for my next post which will cover Days 4 and 5!

Think you can do this too?  You can!  You just need to be intentional about it.  Commit to the experience and watch what happens.  If you think you’re stuck, or you can’t find opportunities, ask yourself a few of the following questions:

• How often do I respond with “no”?
  • Change your answer to YES!
• What do I avoid (for any reason)?
  • Move towards it instead.  Face it head on!