Growth Hurts (And That’s Okay)

(mouse clicking) (dramatic music) Headspace Studios. (dramatic music continues) Hey friends, it's Rosie here. Welcome to Radio Headspace and to Tuesday. So a couple of years ago, I got asked to speak on a panel alongside some people I really admired, people whose books I had read, and I remember saying yes, but as the day got closer, I started to panic. Not because I didn't have anything to say, but because the bigger the moment got, the smaller I started to feel. I started doubting myself. I reworked my talking points like 12 times. I questioned whether I belonged on that stage in the first place. At one point, I even told Tori, "I don't know if I should do this, maybe they meant to ask someone else," classic imposter syndrome. But more than that, it was the discomfort of stepping into a new version of myself, one I'd been asking for but wasn't quite ready to embody. It was like everything in my mind was saying, "Yes, do it," but my body was saying, "Danger, abort mission." So that night before the panel, I sat on the floor of my hotel room and my journal open, just spiraling. Not about the logistics, those were fine. I was spiraling about being seen, so I wrote my fears down on paper. I felt like if I brought them to life, they would be less daunting. I tore a piece out of my journal and started writing. "What if I mess up? What if I'm too much? What if I say 'like' a lot? What if I'm not enough?" And somewhere between writing those questions, I realized I'd been here before. Different outfit, different stage, same fear. What happens if I let myself be fully seen? Doing this, something that truly scared me, was a moment of growth, and ultimately it was fine. I did well, I learned a lot, but it wasn't comfortable. Look, most of us love the idea of growth as long as we don't actually have to change. We say we want to evolve, we want to grow, we want the next big thing, but when it shows up wearing the outfit of discomfort, fear, or uncertainty, suddenly we're like, actually, maybe I'm good right here. I think discomfort shows up right at the threshold of who we've been and who we're becoming, and if we don't know how to sit with it, breathe through it, get curious about it, we'll keep shrinking ourselves to fit the last version that felt safe. Here's the truth. Growth requires discomfort. It's not optional, it's not a side effect. It's the whole deal. And the faster we learn to sit with it, not push through it, not numb it, not avoid it, the faster we step into who we're becoming. After that panel, I didn't magically feel fearless, but I did feel proud because I didn't run, I didn't play small, I let myself stand in the moment and feel everything,...