Begin Again with Davina McCall - Begin Again Moments: The Importance Of Discomfort

Episode Date: October 11, 2026

In this episode of Begin Again Moments, two powerful conversations explore the importance of discomfort, why we’ve become so afraid of difficult things and how embracing life’s challenges can help us grow stronger, happier and more resilient. Buddhist monk and meditation teacher Gelong Thubten joins Davina to explore why modern life has left us in a crisis of comfort, how our constant pursuit of happiness can leave us feeling unfulfilled and why learning to accept uncomfortable emotions could be the key to finding inner peace. Bestselling author and personal development expert Robin Sharma shares why meaningful change is never easy, how stepping outside your comfort zone can unlock your true potential and why the most rewarding things in life often require us to do the hardest work. Together, they explore the relationship between stress and personal growth, the importance of rest and recovery, and why facing discomfort rather than avoiding it can transform the way we approach life. A hopeful reminder that struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing, and sometimes the most difficult moments are the ones that help us become who we’re meant to be. To hear the full conversations, watch the complete episodes on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Find your advisor at IG PrivateWealth.com. talked a bit about resilience in the book about how this kind of constant seeking of happiness makes us less resilient. Stop trying to be safe or full of fear and making your world all small and not risking anything because we've got to be happy and safe. And then actually when something does happen and it always does in life, we're going to lose people we love. We're going to, this is life.

Yeah, I think a lot of this is. modern life is very much about comfort. And I often say we live in a crisis of comfort. That's such a great. Do you know what I mean? Do you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah, God. I'm totally agree with that, yeah.

And we're constantly told you have to be comfortable. Yeah. And we live in a culture where you can get certain amount of comfort. I mean, we really can control the temperature in our house or in our car. We can turn the dials and try and make everything just right. But hasn't that made us more frightened of discomfort? Yes. And we're so obsessed with you must be happy that unhappiness feels like a terrible failure.

Yes. But I feel that all the unhappiness I've experienced in my life has made me stronger and I'm grateful for it. But at the time, I just wanted to get rid of it. And I do think we're socially conditioned to be as happy as possible. What is that, though? What is that happiness? And what does it look like? And it's so much about objects and things and people and places.

And of course, that's how the machine turns, isn't it? We have to be told all the time, you need this to be happy, you need that to be happy. And, of course, the problem is that when we are, when we're seeking happiness from a thing or a person or a situation, we're already building the habit of needing more. Yes. Because looking for happiness means you're always looking for happiness. New from Nespresso. Blend wellness into your coffee routine with a coffee plus range infused with functional benefits.

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any size business. I think what is scary when you get to that midlife point is this kind of, it's almost like a feeling of panic. It's like you said there's that confidence that you have in your 20s and 30s that it's just going to go on forever. And then there's suddenly a realization. And I think it is probably 40, 45, where you're like, oh, okay, this is halfway. way. And I think that possibly people feel like it's too late to change, that young people can make

those changes, but I'm stuck in my ways. Is that true? Well, let's go to the science. Every human being alive today has a gift, and the gift is the gift of neuroplasticity, which is a brain that can adapt to new circumstances. How easy is it to change those neural pathways? one of my favorite brain tattoos is all change is hard at first and it's messy in the middle and it's gorgeous at the end. And I better say it again because I can't stop saying it. All change is hard at first, messy in the middle, gorges at the end. So our society says that if there's change and it's hard, there's something wrong. It should be easy. What's this fascination with easy? Wopen.

Yes. A great relationship isn't easy. climbing a mountain isn't easy. Reading war and peace or the prophet by Khalil Gibran isn't easy. Writing a screenplay that inspires the world is not easy. Running a marathon or raising a family is not easy. Getting into great health is not easy. What is this love affair our society has with easy? I feel like that's quite a new thing. I just everyone wants it all easy and quickly in three seconds and in a nanosecond, but the best things in life are hard. Yes. And it's not, and that's not a bad thing because often it's what the journey towards

the Mount Everest, what it makes of us is also part of the reward. So when we do, when we do difficult things, it introduces us to powers, abilities, gifts, and talents we didn't even know we had. So I would actually say hard is easy and easy is hard. When you do hard things, you join the 5am club, you eat clean, you keep your promises, you treat people well, you take your work seriously and you push magic into the marketplace. You do hard things. It gives you an easy life. When you pursue an easy life, you know, just looking for the path of least resistance, you're going to have a hard life and be stuck in misery.

What can you explain to people why it would be miserable to pursue the easy life? Because I think people think, oh, but the easy life, it's less stressful. It's less, you know, it's the kind of path of least resistance. Why wouldn't, why isn't that good? Well, stress is actually not a bad thing. So science will confirm stress isn't, stress is not the killer. Stress introduces us to our hidden capabilities. A great athlete uses.

is stress to get stronger and to build muscle. A great writer will do difficult work to increase their mastery. So stress is not the culprit. It's we don't recover from stress. I think that's a key point. Stress makes us better. Billy Jean King, the great tennis player, said it beautifully. She said, pressure is a privilege. Pressure is a privilege. If there's a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. Look at the people you get to help. Look at the strengths and the talent you get to know about yourself. It's just we don't recover from the stress. And whether it's rest or whether it's meditation or whether it's working hard as well as taking walks in the park, that's the issue. Going on vacation, we're here for it with kids who turned the backseat into a

courtroom drama over whose tablet is louder, whose charger is faster, and while watching the same cartoon for the hundredth time is a human right? Yep, we totally have vehicles to handle that. Because whether it's a road trip or a business trip, where your flight's delayed, your phone's at 2% and your dinner is whatever is open. Yeah, here for that too. Enterprise, we're here for it.