Hey, it's the 2nd quarter! How are you feeling? Comfortable? I sort of hope not. The only time we should feel really comfortable is when we are sleeping. We need to be in constant motion and most of the time that means we are a bit uncomfortable. Not really, really uncomfortable, although many times that's the only way to know we're really growing, but uncomfortable enough to be propelled into action.

By the way, I learned something really fascinating a few months back. Nature wants us to be uncomfortable to stay healthy! Yep, I started to research this when I got my Fitbit. If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here. I believe it's the best activity tracker out there. Anyway, imagine my surprise when instead of just clipping it on in the morning, I "read" it and saw that I had burned about 350 calories while I slept! Things like weight, age, sex, metabolism and environment affect the burn rate so people differ in the amount of calories burned.  Considering that I average about 1,600 - 1,800 per day, that's a lot of burning. So I wanted to know more. It turns out that our body makes itself just uncomfortable enough at night so we move around to let our skin breath. The human body is designed to be in constant movement, even while we sleep.

It's useful to remember that constant movement is important. It was John F. Kennedy who said, "There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.", and many more have stated the obvious issues of inactivity. Comfortable inaction occurs when your unhappiness or discomfort about a particular issue has not quite reached the point where you feel the need to do something. The "pain" isn't that great. And while everyone and all companies have various levels of acceptable pain, that's not my point. I'm saying the best don't wait until the pain is terrible. They get used to the constant feeling of comfortableness to ensure they're "moving." And moving is all it takes. Move towards the things that make you uncomfortable. Do "something" about the employee or coworker who isn't performing well. Do "something" about the client you know you should fire. Do "something" to increase your personal work output. Listen to that nagging problem or issue that lingers in your mind. Try hard not to adapt and find ways around things until they get worse. Use feeling uncomfortable as a way to make sure you're paying attention to potential losses of time, money, personal or team productivity, energy, or even your credibility for being seen as a person of "inaction."

We could all use reminders that we can't afford to waste another precious day of the calendar waiting and hoping for the perfect time or the perfect solution, or the "perfect" anything to come our way. So, why not use being "uncomfortable" as a sign that you're doing the right stuff? Just the way my Fitbit keeps me in check.

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