I am reading a book right now (The War of Art) all about The Resistance that we create for ourselves in our everyday life. The Resistance is that internal voice that tells you to stop working on your goals because you are not good enough, no one cares,you are wasting time and energy. The Resistance works against you and your goals be it artistic pursuits, entrepreneurship or even health or spiritual goals.
Lately, I have been feeling pretty flat about things. I don’t know why or what triggered this mood but I have been really good about making lists of things that I want to begin work on (writing consistently, testing more recipes, yoga book, cookbook, video series, opening a real live store, expanding our business, starting a new business, training for a half marathon, working on a podcast, etc.) but I don’t seem to find the time to get going on any of these things. I do seem to have plenty of time to binge watch Bloodline or to mindlessly scroll through Facebook multiple times per day. But the things that I really want to make progress on, I just can’t.
Even this post……I started to write it and then got distracted–made some coffee, scrolled through Facebook a bit, started working on more lists and then had to force myself to come back to it.
I can’t explain why. I just know that there is this force within me making it impossible to complete anything.
The War of Art talks about this in such an easy to read, totally relatable way. Naming this force is actually comforting and empowering. By realizing that I am battling The Resistance I also realize that I can overpower it by just doing. Doing whatever it is I want to do. Not second guessing. Not being overly critical but just doing. Doing might mean crossing something off of my list or it might mean taking a baby step toward one of my goals. Moving forward–even if the movement is barely perceptible.
Even as I push through to write this post–I realize that I am winning. The Resistance is retreating ever so slightly. It feels good to put words on the page. So good that I might even draft another post today.
A few other things along these lines have popped up here and there for me this past week. The universe is trying to tell me something, I suppose.
- The Tim Ferriss interview with Casey Neistat in which he says YouTube success comes from doing it–creating content and putting it out there.
- An article about working hard (95 hours per week, instead of the 9 to 5)
- Bjork’s constant reminder that just 1% better everyday times infinity is what we need to keep progressing forward.
- And, this piece about loopholes. I always seem to find them.
Interested in this very inspirational book?
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