Every March, my former colleagues and I would get together to start training for the 8,000 Meter Challenge. The 8000MC is the ultimate outdoor industry event that takes place the first week of every September. The participants are employees from outdoor specialty stores that team up with their colleagues to climb Southern California’s three highest peaks in one day, roughly 40 miles and almost 12,000 feet of elevation gain.

The event is special to me and holds a deep place in my heart for two reasons.

The first is pretty obvious. I love being on the trails and putting myself through a mental and physical challenge. The event always brought me closer to the people I worked with, no matter how we performed. The 8000MC made us a closer, stronger, and better team, both on and off the trail.

The second reason is because of a mentor and the founder of the event, Mark Fulton. Mark’s gift was his magnetism. People were naturally drawn to his energy, his passion, and his smile. His life mission was to ensure that every day was an adventure, not just for himself, but for everyone around him. He inspired people to be better, simply because he was always striving to be better himself.

Mark was an early mentor for me in the retail business. He was a man of his word and always led by example. He always left his door open and I always seemed to take him up on the offer, seeking his perspectives on many occasions. His words were often meaningful and constructive, but the thing I valued most, and the one thing you could always depend on him for, was his radical candor. His advice was never sugar-coated.

A phrase that I heard regularly from Mark, whether taking chances on buying product or suffering (yes, suffering) out on mountain hikes and runs, was “be comfortable with the uncomfortable”. Mark always tested the limits in everything he did and motivated everyone around him to do the same. He was, and still is, a true inspiration to me.

The news of my friend Mark Fulton passing in April 2011 was a hard blow for me. He passed from congestive heart failure due to a rare blood disease, amyloidosis. Mark was just 55 years old.

I was reminded of him this morning when chatting with a friend about a challenge he was going through. I found myself giving some of the same advice Mark would give me about “being comfortable with the uncomfortable.”

“Be comfortable with the uncomfortable.” – Mark Fulton

In life, we constantly battle complexity, uncertainty and stress related to the problems we face. Sometimes we’re ready for the challenge, but all to often we find ourselves wanting to crawl under a rock to get away from it all. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Six Pointers That Could Help

Clear The Ole’ Noggin

When it all gets to be tooo much, break away. I run, bust out my sketchbook, or meditate. I may go for a walk between meetings or just sit back and look out the window, taking some deep breaths for a few minutes. You’ll be amazed how much the simple act of stepping away from the chaos for a brief moment can help you get through the rough of it.

Write

I’m not the best at it, but it helps me get stuff out of my head. Writing releases my anxieties and the pressure. It helps me build clarity around what I’m thinking and it helps me communicate it to others. Damn. That feels better already!

Embrace and Drive It

Being fully immersed in a complex environment or challenge could be extremely stressful and ambiguous, but it can also turn out some of life’s biggest rewards… but only if we’re committed to making it work. So look at your challenge head on, acknowledge it and learn more about it. Once you understand it better, you’ll be able to focus on it in a more constructive way.

Seek Some Help

Share the burden of your experience with others. Your family and friends, your team at work, your mentors, your social community, heck, even complete strangers can be helpful. Don’t believe that you HAVE to do this all by yourself. Seek the perspectives of others; get some new angles on the challenge; ask questions… Going through the experience with others is always more beneficial than doing it on your own.

Celebrate The Small Wins

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the day-to-day of things, making it hard to step back and realize what we’ve accomplished. A string of small wins all tied together equal momentum and/or big successes. Do yourself a favor and celebrate the small things along the way. At the very least, it will give you a dose of happiness and make you feel better!

Share Your Story With Others

Storytelling is one of the strongest forms of communication. Share your wins. Share your struggles. Share your experiences and lessons. Make your learning everyone else’s learning and through the process, you’ll open your mind even more.