Change: Why Comfort Keeps Us Stuck (Part 3 of 4)

The quiet resistance that holds us in place.

What if the biggest obstacle to your next chapter isn’t fear of failure, it’s the comfort of what you already know?

We talk a lot about recognizing when it’s time to change. But recognition is only half the battle. The harder part? Actually moving. Actually stepping into the discomfort. Actually becoming a sugar cookie.

Here’s what Navy SEALs know that most of us don’t: sometimes you do everything right. Your belt buckle is the shiniest, your bed is made perfectly, and you still get sent into the ocean, rolled in sand, and forced to train all day, covered head to toe in grit. Not because you failed, but because excellence requires humility. Because leadership means being willing to be uncomfortable when everyone else gets to be clean.

That’s what stepping into change feels like. Like sand in every crevice, while you’re still expected to perform. Like standing visibly vulnerable while criticism flies. Like being the island, the one willing to lead when no one else will step up.

So why don’t more people do it? Because comfort is seductive. Because staying where you are, even when you know you’re meant for more, feels safer than becoming the sugar cookie. Because it’s easier to ignore the internal prompts than to face the external voices that will inevitably judge you when you step out.

But here’s the truth: you don’t become a Navy SEAL without being a sugar cookie first. You don’t become a leader without standing a little rain. You don’t influence others without making mistakes, without feeling the sand, without training through the discomfort anyway.

This episode explores why comfort, and not fear, is often the greatest enemy of progress. We examine what it means to be your own worst critic and your own best coach, why leadership feels lonely (and why someone still has to do it), and the difference between massive overhauls and simple daily disciplines that compound into transformation.

Sometimes change doesn’t require burning everything down. Sometimes it just requires making your bed. And then doing the next hard thing. And then the next.

The question isn’t whether you’ll face criticism or discomfort when you step into something new. You will. The question is: are you willing to keep training anyway?

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Follow Kristin Johnson on her website, KristinJohnsonSpeaks.com