Learning = Discomfort.

I recently graduated from my Master degree in Business.

This was a two year course, that consisted of lectures, seminars and face-to-face learning, as well as online content. It required me to travel two hours a day, two-three days per week to attend classes. I had required readings of articles and chapters that I had to consume and understand on a weekly basis.

This isn’t even including all of the assignments, essays, reports, presentations and group meetings.

It was a lot of work. A big project that required commitment and effort.

In hindsight, it’s easy to say that it wasn’t difficult. Yet, at the time it was tough. Balancing work, personal commitments and university required energy. Sitting down to study content that was complex was demanding. At times, it felt like everything took more energy than I had to give.

It was uncomfortable.

When we make a conscious decision to level up through learning, we are choosing discomfort.

Of course, the “balance” side of things is challenging. When I made the choice to return back to formal study, I understood that it wasn’t just the “learning” that I was signing up for. It is all the extra stuff, the context surrounding it, that I was also enrolling into.

Yet, it is the act of learning itself, of applying ourselves to a topic or concept that is foreign to us, which can be the hard part.It requires courage and commitment.

However, like all discomfort, it is only temporary. You can be safe in the knowledge that at the end, you will have transcended your previous self. You will have grown and therefore, it is worth it.