The Permission To Be Uncomfortable: “I’ll Be Sh*t Until I’m Not”

There is a phrase I have been using a lot lately:

“I’ll be sh*t until I’m not.”

It sounds blunt, but it has become one of the most helpful reminders in my own life and in the work I do with clients.

Because growth feels uncomfortable long before it feels good.

When we are children, we do not think twice about this.
We fall over.
We get things wrong.
We wobble.
We keep going.

We accept the messiness of learning because we have not yet created stories about how it should look.

As adults, the experience changes.
The more senior we become and the more capable we are in our familiar world, the harder it becomes to be a beginner again.
We are not used to feeling unsure.
We are not used to not being immediately competent.
We make discomfort mean something about us rather than seeing it for what it actually is.

But discomfort is not a sign that something is wrong.
It is a sign that something is moving.

If you are stepping into a new habit or identity or business or career direction, there will be a period where things feel awkward or clunky or simply uncomfortable. This is not the problem. This is the path.

“I’ll be sh*t until I’m not” is the permission slip to stay with it.
To keep going when you want to retreat.
To remember that feeling unsure is completely normal.
To stop expecting yourself to be brilliant from day one.
To allow the process to unfold without turning it into a judgement of who you are.

I remind my clients and myself that being uncomfortable is not a reflection of ability. It is simply the stage you are in. A transition. A stretch. A moment where you are becoming someone new.

If you are in one of those moments right now, hold onto this:

This is not the final version of you.
This is the part where you are learning.
You will find your feet.
You will grow into it.

You will be sh*t until you are not.
And that is exactly how every meaningful change begins.