The Five Uncomfortable Things Discipline
Each day, list five things you're avoiding because they're uncomfortable — and do them.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 82%
Hormozi's daily discipline is to make a list of five things you can do tomorrow that you've been avoiding because they're uncomfortable, then do them despite how you feel, how you slept, or your mood. Paired with this is her secret to profiting in life: the ability to take action quickly after failure. When you get uncomfortable and stumble, don't dwell on the failure — get up and try again immediately, not the next day or a week later. She argues most people let dwelling on failure become their life when they could simply have gotten up and done it again.
Origin
Offered as her closing actionable advice on the podcast, this reflects Hormozi's personal operating principle of committing daily to uncomfortable action and refusing to dwell on failure.
Core principles
- 01Growth lives on the other side of the tasks you avoid.
- 02Act despite how you feel, not because of it.
- 03Recover from failure by acting again immediately, not the next day.
- 04Dwelling on failure is what turns a stumble into your life.
How to run it
- 1
Write down five avoided things
Each evening, make a list of five things you can do tomorrow that you've been avoiding specifically because they're uncomfortable.
- 2
Do them despite how you feel
Commit to and complete all five regardless of your mood, how you slept, or how you feel in the moment.
Pro tip Get uncomfortable on purpose — the avoidance is the signal of where growth is.
- 3
Recover from failure immediately
When you stumble or fail, don't dwell; get up and try again immediately rather than the next day or a week later.
Watch out Dwelling on failure is what turns a temporary stumble into your whole life.
In the wild
Hormozi tells listeners to write down five uncomfortable things to do the next day and commit to doing them despite how they rest that night or their mood the next morning.
→ A repeatable daily practice for building the habit of uncomfortable action.
Common mistakes
Dwelling on failure
Letting a stumble linger for days or weeks lets it become your identity, when immediate re-attempt would move you forward.
Is it for you?
Best for
Anyone wanting to build the habit of taking uncomfortable action and recovering fast.
Not ideal for
Situations requiring careful deliberation rather than rapid repeated action.
From the transcript
“Make a list of five things that you can do tomorrow that you've been avoiding because they're uncomfortable. And do them despite how you feel”
“the ability to take action quickly after failure... I just get up and I go and I try it again immediately. Not the next day.…”
From the episode
Leila Hormozi: $100,000,000 Leadership, How to Build High-Performance Teams People Never Want to Leave
Leila Hormozi