What if Columbus never set out?

There’s not much uncharted territory left to explore. Or… is there?

Setting out

The explorers made history. They discovered and changed how we think about the world and our cultures. They journeyed into the unknown, and unfamiliar and returned with new knowledge, new items, new outlook on life.

For that, they are remembered.

You might not be able to discover a new continent, but can you still become an explorer?

Yes.

Ever edited a video? Recorded a podcast? Or made a website?

Making something creative also means going into the unknown, the unfamiliar and returning back with something unique and new.

For example, I’m used to coding and writing — that’s my jam. But now I’m trying video editing and it’s a new kind of marmelade that I’m not sure about. A new taste I’m not sure I like yet. A new territory for me to explore. And to do that, I have to experience the unfamiliar discomfort.

Familiar vs unfamiliar discomfort

Familiar discomfort is pushing your limits in a direction you know. Running farther, fasting longer, diving deeper.

Unfamiliar discomfort is going into the uncharted territory. You can’t push the limits, because you don’t know if or where they exist.

The continents have been found. The countries founded. But creativity is unbound. It is limitless and bottomless.

How to choose the unfamiliar discomfort

Inside our heads, there is a story. We experience the world and form a narrative — good day, bad day, meh day… And this story limits what we do because it wants to stay more or less consistent.

But, you can break the script.

Instead of A or B, the normal Friday options, you can choose J, or Q, or T?

The unexplored choices

A sausage or a burger? → How about an omellette? Running or lifting weights? → What about dancing? Writing or drawing? →What about sketchnoting? Or animation? Train or bus? →What about a bike or unicycle?

Those are the choices that will stretch us, transform us, and make us better. Those are the choices that will lead us into the uncharted territory. They won’t be comfortable, but they will be exciting.

So, A, B or J?

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