I’m not sure whether my recent TEDx Talk on “Embracing Discomfort” was an example of art imitating life, life imitating art, or just brutal irony. But in order to prepare for my talk, I actually needed to embrace not only a healthy dose of discomfort, but also a tiny bit of anxiety, dread, fear and loathing.
When I was approached months and months ago by the folks at TEDx Carson City about speaking at their upcoming event, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity. Even better, the event itself was so far in the future that I figured I’d have ample time to hone in on my idea and make it worthy of the numerous TED talks that have served as a source of inspiration to me.
I tossed around a number of ideas, about everything from today’s rapidly changing technology, to balancing work and family, to even how all the best moments in life have one common element: that you’re wearing flip-flops.
Ultimately, I kept returning to this idea that in moments of discomfort, we’re actually our most creative and productive selves.
As an adventure photographer and filmmaker, my job, in a way, is to document people taking risks and going outside of their comfort zones. These people are some of the happiest people I know, so I have to wonder, why do so many of us associate happiness with comfort? (Think beach vacations).
Even in my experience as a photographer, it’s those times when I’m really hungry, or really cold, or really scared or stressed—in other words, those times when I’m really uncomfortable—that have led to the most productive, creative, and memorable moments of my life. And they’ve also been some of the moments I’ve been most happy.
A hectic production schedule had me traveling all over the world. Months went by where it felt as if I was either on location, working 18 hour days, or sitting around in airports waiting for the next flight.
Suddenly I found myself a couple weeks out from the TEDx event, and the reality hit me that I didn’t have much time before I’d be standing on stage in front of a room full of educated people with high expectations, seeking some new kernel of truth—or at the very least, hoping to hear someone who would be somewhat entertaining, and not flop.
Leading up to the event the TEDx organizers provided us with a few meetings and rehearsals and plenty of resources to prepare.
Still, about 48 hours before my talk, I had written my monologue, but I did not have it memorized. Nevertheless, I felt pretty confident that I’d have no problem pulling it off. Just like cramming for a final exam in college,
I called up my good friend Tommy Caldwell, who gave his own TEDx talk, to seek some reassurance that other speakers crammed, too. Tommy’s a busy guy, I figured. Just like me. I bet he found himself in this exact same situation.
“So, how did you prepare for your talk, Tommy?”
“Well, I spent months working on it with a writer friend. I worked with coaches at TEDx to work on my public-speaking skills. And every day in the month leading up to my talk, I would go on hikes in Rocky Mountain Park with my note cards, and try to recite my talk from memory. What about you? What have you been doing?”
“Uhh …” I went silent and my face went pale.
“You haven’t done shit, have you?” Tommy joked. He knows me well.
“My speech is written,” I said. “More or less!”
But you know, sometimes it takes throwing yourself into a pit of discomfort to really motivate you to focus and get a job done. You have to embrace it. And that’s where I found myself with less that 48 hours to taking the TED stage in Carson City.
Whether it was luck, or whether it was just the fact that the event organizers thought I was the least prepared, I ended up closing the whole show. This provided me with 7 hours on the day of the event to cram and memorize my presentation. I spent that time outside, sitting on a park bench, wearing flip-flops and sunglasses, and rehearsing my speech over and over.
And you know what? I think it came together pretty good! The video of my speech is now live, and I want to thank the kind editors at TEDx for doing a great job of cleaning up all the little “ums,” fumbles, and stumbles that I were probably in there.
Hope you enjoy it and find ways to embrace discomfort in your own lives.
Feature Photo Credit: Brad Coman
1 comment
I really enjoyed listening to your speech! I think that embracing comfort is a great strategy to motivate yourself. I have read this article by Entrepreneur, where they say that Our brains are wired to understand fear as a threat and act accordingly, with little to no conscious effort on our part. And I have also read a book they talk about here, On Becoming Fearless.
By the way, I am a big fan of Ted Talk. It is so cool – people sharing their experience. I have gone through it myself when I made a speech for one of theleading mobile app developers. I know how hard it can be to prepare for your speech and the excitement you feel on the stage.
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