Hey Reader,
There are times when things get hard.
That’s when most people want to escape, complain, or quit.
But how you see that difficulty is everything you need to win or quit.
Today, we’ll uncover how to reframe uncomfortable situations into something you become excited to do.
🗯️ The hard part can also be an advantage
Summer’s here, and the heat hits different here in Texas.
I’m training for the Leadville 100-mile race coming up in August.
It’s an intense race at high altitude, and ideally, I’d prep by running at altitude in Colorado.
But this summer, we’re not going to Colorado for a month.
That means I don’t get to really acclimate to the altitude.
At first, that felt like a disadvantage, but I thought of how else to prep for altitude without actually being there.
And I realized heat is a proxy for altitude.
Being exposed to high heat helps the body adapt, increase blood volume, and carry more red blood cells. These benefits will help when I’m actually up in the mountains.
So I changed the frame.
Normally, I’d be like, “ugh, it’s so hot in Texas.” Now, I’m like, “this is heat training.”
The Texas heat now feels like a huge advantage.
Now, on some runs I wear more layers. I sweat more. I move slower, but I know why I’m doing it.
I use a heart rate monitor that shows me heat load, so I can track it. Gamify it.
And when the run gets uncomfortable, I remind myself of the advantage.
You see, one small change in the way we see things can alter the entire game.
The heat doesn’t feel like a burden anymore. It’s an advantage.
🧠 It’s not entirely a setback
As a high performer, you can be so used to making things better.
So good at solving problems.
But the downside of always solving problems quickly is that when you encounter resistance that won’t budge, it can feel like a personal failure.
It’s easy to get more frustrated when the challenge lingers.
Suddenly, you start doubting your instincts, second-guessing yourself, avoiding conversations that’ll remind you of that unsolved problem, distracting yourself with easier tasks, or even convincing yourself that maybe you’re just not cut out for this particular goal.
But this approach can gradually weaken your clarity, drain your energy, and steal your momentum.
You’ll begin to question things that were never in doubt before, like your vision or capability
But discomfort can be a sign that you’re at the frontier of your potential.
You just need to be calm enough to reframe the narrative, and everything changes.
So if you keep seeing difficulty as something going wrong, you’ll keep missing the advantage you can get from it.
❤️ Reframe the narrative
How you narrate a moment of discomfort changes everything about how you experience it.
Don’t focus on the pain, focus on the potential.
Think of the possibilities that something about the challenge can be an advantage, a preparation, or a workout for your mind and soul.
The minute you reframe it positively, you become open to the wins even in the discomfort.
You’ll stop resenting it and start leveraging the exciting part of it.
You’re no longer overwhelmed or frustrated because you’re now powered by the meaning you’ve found in it.
You start to feel alive in the challenge, not drained by it.
The stress doesn’t disappear, but now it has a purpose, and you’re in control.
You become open to the resilience you’re building, the patience you’re mastering, and the deeper potential you’re uncovering.
🤲 Embrace the advantage
I know how easy it is to default into frustration.
I’ve been there.
These simple practices can help you reframe discomfort to your advantage:
- Mindful awareness. The moment a challenge sets in, pause and give it an empowering label. Admit that it **feels hard because it’s stretching you. That means it’s adding to your traits as an elite performer. Changing the narrative mentally reminds your system that this is not really a problem, you’re just evolving.
- Treat it like a mini-game. When an uncomfortable situation shows up, pause and give yourself an internal challenge. For example, if you’re overwhelmed with meetings, challenge yourself to speak with total clarity in just one conversation. This practice will keep you in control.
- Find a win. Ask yourself: “What is this preparing me for?” Maybe you’re building resilience, emotional control, fortitude, or something else. Just find a clear win in that mess. It will help you create an immediate sense of purpose.
- Pay attention to what you’re building. Now you’ve found meaning in that discomfort, note what it’s building in you. Grit? Discipline? Fortitude? Figure it out. It wires your brain to crave growth even in uncomfortable moments.
🎯 Are you fighting discomfort, or learning from it?
Think about the pressure, discomfort, or the challenge you’re facing.
Tomorrow, next month, or next year, how will you speak about this moment?
Will you tell it as the thing that slowed you down, or as the turning point that made you unstoppable?
That decision is entirely yours.
As Wayne Dyer brilliantly says, “If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
With appreciation,
Huw
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Huw Edwards
Founder & CEO, h3.xyz
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