For the first 40 days of this year, I jumped into a cold swimming pool with two of my sons, as a practice in facing discomfort and fear. We never looked forward to it, but it taught me a lot about facing things I don’t want to face. The things we don’t want to face can look like a top hits list: Overwhelming piles of work Our unhealthy habits Our addictions to social media or online browsing Finances or taxes Difficult conversations Projects I’ve been putting off Putting my work out into the world Piles of stuff in my garage Does any of that sound familiar? We are inclined to avoid difficulty at an almost instinctual level, and overcoming this “instinct” is important to having the kind of life we want to live. Cold swimming taught me some important lessons about facing difficult stuff. I will share them here, just in …