A-Players Are Uncomfortable Being Comfortable
A-Players are Uncomfortable Being Comfortable.
They are driven by an unreasonable, unforgiving, and unrelenting mandate to achieve the best version of themselves.
They are only satisfied when moving at full pace toward their own potential.
Stagnation is pain.
The commitment is uncomfortable. The hunger. The constant, nagging… The toll of asking: "Am I doing enough?" The Impostor Syndrome. The demand for feedback.
But replace it with comfort, and they'll become uncomfortable.
Because A-Players are Uncomfortable Being Comfortable.
A decision that defines the maxim
In September 2014, Roger Federer was 33 years old and had won 17 Grand Slams. He had nothing left to prove and a young family at home. Yet he decided to hire a new coach, Stefan Edberg, to rebuild his attacking game and backhand.
He chose to be bad at something in public, in his thirties, after he had already won everything available to win.
He went on to win three more majors after the age of 35.
Federer sabotaged comfort in pursuit of finding a higher output.
That decision is the maxim. A-Players are uncomfortable being comfortable.
The mistake people make is thinking discomfort is the price of greatness.
It is not the price.
It is the by-product of a mind that demands more.
A mind that knows their career’s true potential and psychologically blackmails them to strive to be more, never resting until they meet their potential.
But potential is always one stride ahead.
A-Players know this in their body. They feel suspicious of ease. They feel ill at the idea of easy.
Audit your comfort
What is the thing you are best at?
The thing other people praise you for?
Where on that skill have you plateaued?
Where are you just running the same play because it works?
How do you unlock the next level?
Seek out the discomfort between where you are and where your potential knows you can be.
Embrace the discomfort to fuel you to your next level.
If you are an A-Player, you won’t find comfort again until you’ve uncovered the next level of discomfort.
As such, A-Players are locked in a perpetual growth cycle.
And they’d never have it any other way.