Why You Should Seek Discomfort Everyday

Do something that scares you. Most people might feel intimidated or threatened by this statement. Typically, most people like to stay within their comfort zone. But not Yes Theory. In fact, they welcome these opportunities as challenges and experiences.

Members Thomas Brag, Matt Dajer, Ammar Kandil, and (formerly) Derin Emre first met in Montreal, Canada. The diverse group came from all around the world: Thomas from France, Matt from the US, Ammar from Egypt, and Derin from Turkey. During the summer of 2015, Ammar was on a University Scholarship to try and get venture capital to help with his tech start up. One night, he snuck into a party, and eventually got around to meeting Thomas, chatting with him, starting their new lasting friendships.

Thomas soon shared with Ammar his grand idea he was working on: Project 30, with the goal of taking risks for 30 days to get more outside their comfort zone, or inspiring viewers or those around them to get up and take risks themselves. Ammar was in as soon as Thomas explained this to him. Completely taking a chance with Thomas, Ammar was leaving behind his goal of venture capital networking, and “leaving behind the idea of safety for joy against all logic.” With little money and no place to stay, they managed to crash at a friend’s house, resulting in them meeting Derin and Matt. The ultimate team was formed, and they began to get started on their dream of Project 30. A year later, after the sensational success of their videos, they started to gear their works a little less towards the crazy, and more towards positive influence, leading to the creation of Yes Theory. With this YouTube channel, they dare to do many things that forces them to Seek Discomfort (the marketing that they’ve started to promote as their mentality) such as: “BECOMING SUPERHUMAN WITH ICE MAN - Wim Hof,” or sleeping “Overnight on the Most Dangerous Bed in the World,” or “Dialling Random Numbers Until Stranger Agrees to Hang Out,” or “SAYING YES TO EVERYTHING FOR 24 HOURS.” These are just a few of the crazy things they do, and will continue to do for years to come.

These guys are all about saying yes and seeking discomfort. Their YouTube bio says it all: “We believe that life can be as authentic and fulfilling as you wish if you seek discomfort.” I think people all around the world could use this advice. A lot of times, people tend to push off dreams or hold off on things because they’re scared or worried. What Yes Theory is trying to do is teach people to, as their name suggests, say yes. Even if you’re scared, it’s the things that push you outside of your comfort zone that builds you as a character and create the memories and experiences that you’ll always be thankful for and never forget. Fear tends to hold us back a lot. It’s one of the toughest mental barriers to break, but pushing fear to the limit is the only way to truly grow. Yes Theory recently posted a challenge on instagram to type a message in the comments and see who responds with something in common or in relation to what you said. One person asked if anyone wanted to make a group chat for no particular reason. Feeling adventurous, I said yes. Now, I have a groupchat of around 30 people from around the world, and we challenge each other to seek discomfort everyday as well as support each other through the day to day struggles. It’s the things like these that makes life more rewarding. By seeking discomfort, one can grow in many ways, learn a lot about themselves, and give back to the world; that’s the best way to live life.