Feeling awkward and uncomfortable is quite common when we try to learn something new. But this can create barriers to personal growth, because those feelings will come well before you will notice any improvement in your skills. As a result, you might feel that the negative emotional experience is not worth it, and give up on your goal.

But what if we reframe our attitude towards discomfort, seeing it as a sign of progress and something to strive for rather than avoid?

A new paper in Psychological Science (‘Motivating personal growth by seeking discomfort’) suggests that this way of thinking can motivate people to work towards their goals.

Indeed, the paper shows that accepting awkwardness and discomfort allowed the participants to spend more time improvising and taking risks. This can be interpreted as being more motivated. The participants themselves were more likely to believe that they had achieved their personal goals during the experimental activities.

Embracing negative emotions like these can allow us to grow emotionally and develop coping skills.