In this solo episode of the No Days Off podcast, host Brian Gubernick argues that modern society’s abundance of comfort has led to a psychological phenomenon he calls “comfort creep,” where people become dependent on ease and lose resilience. He cites David Levari’s 2018 study on prevalence‑induced concept change, which shows that as problems become rarer, people lower their threshold for what counts as a problem, creating the illusion of “first‑world problems.” Gubernick links this research to the ideas in Michael Easter’s The Comfort Crisis and Jesse Itzler’s advocacy for aggressive, high‑risk goals, suggesting that voluntary discomfort is a potent medicine that re‑engages the brain’s problem‑seeking drive. He outlines concrete ways to introduce discomfort—wilderness hikes without phone service, fasting, cold‑water immersion, endurance training, and setting ambitious goals with a real chance of failure. Personal anecdotes about his own marathon training and daily cold‑plunge routine illustrate how repeated exposure to discomfort transforms mental and physical toughness. The episode concludes with a direct challenge to listeners to deliberately add a discomfort practice to their week and report back, reinforcing the podcast’s community‑driven ethos of daily self‑improvement.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. I think, and you may disagree, I believe that we need discomfort. I believe you need some discomfort in your life. I believe that I need some discomfort in my life. We, you and me, the No Days Off Nation, our society, we all need some degree of discomfort in our lives on a fairly regular basis. As a matter of fact, I think that we struggle. We struggle mentally. We struggle physically when our lives get to be too easy. And call it what it is, where we are at as a society today, we are so blessed. We are so fortunate. There are so many things that remove discomfort for many of the world. You know, many of us, not all of the world, unfortunately, but for many of us, you know, discomfort doesn't look quite like it used to look. But even still, as strange as it sounds, discomfort is a potent medicine. I think we have to periodically give up the safeties and the conveniences of modern life. As I said, there's nothing wrong with these modern conveniences, but we become dependent on them. And I don't think we could sustain discomfort if we allow that dependency to carry on. I think modern men and modern women need periodic discomfort to not wither away. There was a study done by a scientist. His name was David Levari, L-E-V-A-R-I. You can look it up. And it's a pretty detailed study. I think he did it in 2018. And what David, the scientist, found was what he called prevalence-induced concept change. Essentially what he found was what, what is called problem creep. It explains that as we experience fewer problems, we actually don't become more satisfied. What we do is lower our threshold for what we consider a problem. We end up with the same number of troubles, except our new problems are progressively more hollow. So Lavari got to the heart of why many people can find an issue in nearly every situation or any situation, no matter how good they have it relative to their peers or the rest of humanity. We're always moving the goalposts. So there, there literally is a scientific basis for first world problems. So this study that he, that he did just really found that the human brain searches for problems even when they become rare or don't exist. So what's the answer? I think it's discomfort. I really think it's discomfort. Now, discomfort helps us see that we create many of our modern problems out of boredom, out of even weakness. And if we keep pushing discomfort away, things are going to get even worse. This is what Michael Easter tells us in The Comfort Crisis. And the truth is we can kind of see it in modern society. You know, men and women grow kind of weak as they seek, say, happiness and connection in all sorts of things like junk food, like video games, like Instagram, like these other mind-numbing, mindless things that we do. A lot of people see things like nature as something that's inconvenient or even boring. Instead, they're worried about the nearest supermarket or phone reception so they can make a phone call or get something to eat. They see, they see effort as something undesirable. And I'm here to argue that we got to do some hard things. We have to do some hard things. Perseverance is not a silly notion. Yes, we are marketed to nonstop that we could change certain things overnight, or there's other quick solutions that don't involve some degree of pain or discomfort. And I just don't believe that always to be true. But I think when you start seeking voluntary discomfort, you start to change a little bit. I believe, and I think you believe too, that we've got to create a little bit of this to eliminate this comfort creep. So what can we do? What can we do? What, how do we create some discomfort? Well, I think you could probably come up with a lot of different ideas. Maybe it's a strenuous hike. In the wilderness with no phone. It doesn't matter what kind of shape you're in. We could all, you know, what's strenuous to me may not be to you and vice versa. But if we just go push ourselves out in the middle of the wilderness with no phone, that's a degree of discomfort. Or maybe, you know, it's fasting. Now I'm not the health professional here, but maybe it's creating some degree of hunger and challenging your mind around that discomfort as opposed to reaching for that quick snack. Maybe it's some sort of misogyny, as Jesse Itzler talks about, which is really, you know, setting some aggressive goal where there's a high chance of you failing. Just can't die, as Michael Easter would say, but you can fail. You know, if you set a goal, whatever it be, physical or mental or whatever it is, there's a chance that you in fact fail. That's a degree of discomfort. That's a degree of uncertainty. I think you could probably come up with a lot of different things that would create a degree of discomfort. If you've ever done something that's uncomfortable, or you've done something that, that pushes you to the limits, the feeling that you have when that's finished, the feeling or appreciation that you have for a lot of things really, really changes your perspective on, on, on, on, on our world. For me personally, you know, I do like some endurance races and I like them all, but what do I like most? And I know this is going to sound sick and twisted, but I think we've got a lot of twisted individuals listening to the No Days Off podcast. What do I like most? I don't like running 26.2 miles. That doesn't do it for me. I like the training schedule because it gives me something to aim for. I don't love the race itself. I'll tell you what I really look forward to. And again, this is where it's messed up, but it's true. I know at some point during that race or multiple points during that race, I am going to be mentally challenged and I'm going to have to push through it. On a, on a simpler level, I know that when I get in the cold plunge, and this is not necessarily an endorsement for a cold plunge, though I love it. You go explore it and see if it's right for you. While I physically feel fantastic when I get out of that thing, I think arguably the greatest benefit is that I have to stand over it every morning. And every single morning for the past 4 years, I've said, damn, I don't want to do this. But there's a mental battle that I got to win. And that discomfort, you know, I get in and I'm immediately pretty darn cold, but my body adjusts and that discomfort turns to comfort. And I believe that makes me a stronger person throughout the day as a result. So I'm not saying you gotta be crazy. I'm not saying you gotta be a psycho about this sort of thing. I am just saying to you, and I think that you are hearing me and that you understand this, I think we all deep down inside understand we have things pretty damn easy today. And some degree of discomfort pushes us mentally, physically, makes us remember what it is we have, ties us to our ancestors. That didn't have it quite like, like we do. And I really believe that we live a better life as a direct result. So I'm done preaching. I really am. This is just something I get pretty fired up about. And if you're listening to the No Days Off podcast, I'm sure this motivates you as well. So the focusing question for you, where can you introduce some discomfort in your world this week? Not necessarily today, but what can you go do to push yourself, to challenge yourself, to get to a breaking point, but then persevere? I challenge you to do that this week. And then shoot me an email, shoot me a message on Instagram, shoot me a text and let me know how you feel. I want to know what it feels like to push through that. I know personally what it feels like, but I want to hear what you have to say. Introduce some discomfort. Let me know how it impacts your life. That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.
