Lessons From a Year of Doing the Uncomfortable

Last year I set myself the challenge to do 52 things in 52 weeks that would take me into the unknown, uncertain and uncomfortable. My year of Gulps.

Armed with an initial list of ideas in July 2024 I got underway with no real idea of what was ahead of me. Some Gulps were big, others were small and by the end of the year, they’d given me more than I could’ve imagined.

Why I did it

It started during my solo bikepacking trip in Oman when I realised that being out of my comfort zone wasn’t as familiar as it used to be and I wanted to do something about it. Psychologist Abraham Maslow, said that growth is ‘an endless series of daily choices and decisions, in each of which one can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth.’

If we’re not practised at stepping away from safety, we can get stuck, locked in an invisible prison. If we cling to certainty, predictability and control over ambiguity, uncertainty and change, our world will shrink.  It’s like standing on a sinking island.

As the Everyday Purpose email put it: comfort isn't actually comfortable. It's a slow suffocation dressed up as safety. It promises protection but steals your edge, your growth, your aliveness. And that’s what I wanted to avoid. We need to be building our capacity for uncertainty and change, because let’s face it, there’s plenty of that around.

What I got out of it

There’s so much. Here are six things that stand out.

1.      Keep opening new doors

I kicked 2025 off with a Gulp – 52 x 100m in the pool. While swimming wasn’t a new thing, I’d never swum that far. That led to a 5km ocean swim, which led to a 10km ocean swim attempt. I made new connections and discovered a love for long ocean swims. There were so many positives.

Not every door led to new passions. For example, hip hop dancing was a one-and-done. But even the dead ends gave me something. A new experience, memories and in this case, a funny story to share (and a video of my attempt that will never be shared!).

Open new doors – you never know where they’ll lead.

2.      Do things for the hell of it

We often only try things if we can justify the return on investment – the time, money and energy. But that constraint can take us away from fun and joy. It’s ok to do something, just for the hell of it, because you’ve always wanted to give it a shot.

There were plenty of Gulps that fell into that category for me like trapeze, canyoning, salsa dancing and wakeboarding. I protect my downtime and energy fiercely, but I realised I’ve been missing out. Turns out I have more time and energy than I realised. And more often than not, these experiences massively energised me.

Life can be pretty serious, give yourself permission to go do new fun things for the hell of it.

3.      Make friends with fear

Fear is part of life and tends to ride shotgun with uncertainty and the unknown. There’s no way around it, only through it. It’s easier to face when you have tools, like reframing, breathwork, visualisation, etc. But like any tool, we need to practice using it. Doing so in a relatively low-consequence situation is a great starting place.

Doing things like abseiling, rock climbing and getting my motorbike licence, I got to use all of the tools. I got to see what helped, what didn’t. And not only that, but I was reminded that anticipation is worse than reality.

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” Eleanor Roosevelt

Fear isn’t the enemy, avoidance is.

4.      Build the evidence bank

David Goggins calls this the cookie jar. It’s all the things we’ve achieved, overcome and challenges we’ve faced. It’s something we can dip into to remind ourselves of when our confidence is failing us and doubts are creeping in.

I realised through this year that I undervalue old evidence. I was reminded I can still do hard things, like the ocean swim. I also put some new cookies in the jar that I can dip into when needed.

Confidence is a result of the actions we take and the things we do.

5.      Failure isn’t fatal

In fact, it’s a great teacher. I knew it theoretically coming into this, but I got to experience it.

The Bondi to Watsons Bay swim didn’t go as planned. Choosing to go tandem instead of solo skydiving. These and others weren’t the successes I’d have liked, but there were lessons in them. Yes, the ego and my pride took a hit, but I’ll take that over dealing with the regrets of never trying.

Too often we let fear of failure keep us from even trying. I believe the sting of regret is far more painful than failure ever is. And there tend to be more lessons in failure than success.

As hedge fund manager Ray Dalio says, pain + reflection = progress.

6.      Rewrite old stories

Another benefit was rewriting a few old stories. Coming into to this I’d have said I don’t tolerate the cold, I’m not someone who could swim 10km, I could never do stand-up comedy, I’m not an academic etc. These Gulps put a crack in some of those narratives.

We all carry stories about ourselves and who we are. Some are useful and true, others aren’t. While these stories that got challenged weren’t major ones, holding me back, it was a reminder that these can change. We can shift our identity and how we perceive ourselves.

Engage in actions that provide evidence against old, negative beliefs. 

In closing

These Gulps were like a series of experiments in relatively low-consequence situations. Not only is being out of my comfort zone a familiar place again, but it’s helped me build skills and confidence that can be applied in higher-stakes situations.

Getting out of our comfort zone makes us braver, and our belief in our capabilities and ability to deal with new and challenging situations grows. As a result, we are more likely to jump on new opportunities, knowing we don’t just survive challenging environments, but thrive in them.

If we let our comfort zone imprison us, we keep ourselves away from exploring our potential, growing, building confidence and courage or simply, having fun.

Leading a full life is about having lots of varied experiences, trying new things and in the process, making life more memorable.

My life is all the richer for these 52 Gulps. So while it is done, it’s not over. I’m going to keep it going, at a slightly less relenting pace. It’s going to be one a month.

Want to try it?

Just pick one thing that feels like a Gulp to you. Take a breath, gulp. And just do it.

Sarah x x

PS You can see my list of Gulps here.