The benefits of being uncomfortable

I got to watch Nate Burleson work last week, and as we talked afterward, I was reminded of the benefits of pushing yourself to accept uncomfortable situations.

Nate Burleson knows how I feel.

It’s not often that I can say that about a professional athlete. There’s very little in my life that is reminiscent of anything they experience. I’m not complaining about that, I am simply stating a verifiable fact.

But last week, as I interviewed Burleson in the cafeteria of the Times Square studio where “CBS Mornings!” is filmed I found myself nodding along as Burleson explained his decision to move to New York six years ago.

“I remember coming home to my wife,” Burleson said, “and I’m like, ‘Look, the NFL is launching this morning show in New York, and they want me, but I’m not going to do it.’ “

He had only recently retired after 11 years in the NFL, and while he was working a couple of days a week at the NFL Network that was in Los Angeles, which was close to his home in Arizona. This was New York. The East Coast. It was every day, and it was early. Really early.

“I don’t want to wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning,” Burleson remembers saying. “I’m done like stressing myself out.”

He kept thinking about it, though. And then came a breakthrough.