Planned Discomfort – Tim Ferriss' Party Pants

In an interview on accelerated learning, Tim Ferriss shares personal and ancient anecdotes about clothing as a tool for growth (at the 41 minute mark - listen or read in full):

"Cato, who was considered the perfect Stoic by Seneca, would wear a tunic of an odd color so that he would deliberately get ridiculed by others.

He would learn to be ashamed of only those things worth being ashamed of. Right now, I think in the hypersensitive, politically correct environment in which we live, the only way serious problems are going to be solved is if we have very uncomfortable conversations.

Right now, people are too afraid of being labeled, called out, whatever it might be, ostracized, to have those uncomfortable conversations. You can train yourself to be more comfortable with discomfort by planning it.

I have these pants I call my party pants. They’re hideous. They look like the upholstery from my grandmother’s couch. I’ll wear them around in environments where I know I’m going to get heckled."

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Planned discomfort, done on purpose with intention, can build the muscle of confidence.

So next time you consider stepping out in a skirt, see it as training – as opposed to risk. Or, start with other garments to build resilience to shame, in the lead up to skirts.

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Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid

Tim Ferris is an author (ie. 4-hour Work Week), investor, podcast host, game creator, and many other things.