Do the thing that makes you uncomfortable

Just do it is more than a great slogan, it’s incredible life advice.

It’s so easy to talk yourself out of doing things because they make you a bit uncomfortable. We’ve all been there. You say yes to an opportunity in a moment of confidence, Then anxiety takes hold, and you decide that you’d be much more comfortable sitting at home, watching TV with a cup of tea.

But here’s the thing…

That thing you don’t want to do might be the best thing you do all week. All month. Or, maybe even all year.

The burnt toast theory

One of my 2026 resolutions was to put myself out there more, and one of the ways that I did that was by reaching out to a fellow artist, Becky— you can check out her work here. We’ve since become friends and I finally have someone to chat to about paintbrushes.

In the spirit of putting myself out there, I had agreed to meet a different artist at an event in Stockport on Sunday. But, after I had travelled there, I got a message from him saying he could no longer make it. It was a bit frustrating, I’ll be honest. I’d bought a train ticket, and spent an hour travelling there, and I was all of a sudden left without a plan. But, he was exhausted and overworked. So I said don’t worry about it, and I sat in a coffee shop and sent a voice note to Becky.

When I ranted to Becky about what had happened, she told me about the Burnt Toast Theory. When I asked what that was, she said that it’s like a sliding door moment. If you burn your toast, you’d spend another few minutes making a new slice, and that tiny delay could lead you to missing a car crash or bumping into someone you wouldn’t have otherwise met.

Basically, that minor inconvenience could be the universe guiding you down a different path. She said, maybe this change of plan was actually meant to happen all along, and I might get something out of the day now that I never expected to.

what would she do?

Something that has really helped me with my resolution is creating an idealistic version of myself to aspire to — if you haven’t done this already, I suggest you give it a go.

Here’s how you do it: Imagine the you that you want to be. Give them a name, a personality, a career. Talk about their achievements, their goals, their behaviours. Then, when you’re faced with a decision, you can ask yourself, what would they do?

The day before heading to Stockport, I had seen a callout from an artist called Jane who was working during this event. She was asking for volunteers to sit for her while she practiced her portrait painting. It would only be for thirty minutes. So I thought, Artist Clare would volunteer, and I messaged her to set up a time slot for midday.

Then, when I was sat in that coffee shop, suddenly faced with two hours of no plans before my agreed time slot, the anxiety crept in. I had lost my momentum, and I wanted more than anything to go straight home.

But after chatting to Becky, and learning about the Burnt Toast Theory, I thought what would Artist Clare do? She would go to the studio, introduce herself, and help another artist. So, that’s exactly what I did.

I didn’t think about it any longer than I needed to. I just did it.

Meeting the Janes

I rocked up to The Grit in Stockport to meet Jane (@whatjanepaints on Instagram), the mystery artist I had blindly agreed to sit for. Picture a stereotypical arty building with a bunch of different studios, The Grit was that place.

Jane’s thirty minute study

I sat as still as I could manage while we chatted about everything arty. We talked about different techniques I hadn’t considered before, she told me what she found challenging and what she wanted to work on, and I told her the same about me.

What I learnt from Jane was that not everything you do has to be perfect. Experiment. Put yourself out there. Try. Start. It might not work out how you want it to, but either way it will teach you something.

I felt immediately inspired from our conversation to do something outside of my comfort zone. Like try painting from life instead of photographs, putting a time limit on a study, or signing up to a life drawing class.

Before we wrapped up, I mentioned how nice it is to talk to another artist, and she commented about how funny it is to have someone call her that. You never see yourself as an artist, she said, while stood at an easel with a paint brush and pallet, surrounded by paintings she created. If that isn’t an artist I don’t know what is!

Half way through the session, a woman came in and introduced herself as a new artist that was just setting up in Stockport. The coincidental thing is that she was also called Jane. Okay, technically Jane 2 spells it with a y — Jayne — but for all intents and purposes, I’m going to call them The Janes.

Jayne had just sold her house, and was wrapping up a thirty year career as a psychotherapist. She’d started asking the question ‘what do I want out of life’ and that question led her to the arts. Not just art, but writing comedy as well. As someone who paints and writes, this resonated with me deeply. We talked about creativity as a whole, and not limiting or defining ourselves as an artist or a writer alone. Creativity doesn’t have limits, and nor should it!

She noted how this big life change has brought up a lot of uncertainty, and how it felt strange, looking at people around her that seemed to have life figured out while she was giving her own a complete overhaul.

Confirming what I knew

We were all in agreement — me and The Janes — that uncertainty is a good thing. It’s exciting. Just like I said in my last blog, uncertainty means possibilities. And isn’t that far more satisfying than settling?

Having this conversation confirmed what I suspected: that uncertainty may never go away. But that’s okay. It’s good to be curious. It’s good to ask the questions. It’s good to think what if.

I left my session feeling fulfilled. I did something out of my comfort zone and it led me to have one of the most inspiring conversations I have had all year. And it led me to the conclusion that the best path for you to take right now is the one outside of your comfort zone.

If I had listened to the voice in my head that told me to stay at home, I would never have met the Janes, I wouldn’t have discovered how similar their outlook on life is to mine, and I wouldn’t have written this blog

So next time an opportunity presents itself… say yes. Volunteer. You never know who you might meet or what you might learn.

Feeling a bit lost? Check out last week’s blog here.