The Resistance Is Real

The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield is a phenomenal book.  Read it.

I especially love it because Pressfield names the sucky feeling we all have inside whenever we embark on a new project. That feeling of doubt.  Of not being up to the task. Of procrastinating. Of wanting to pivot and do something else. Anything but the project we set out to do.

He calls it “The Resistance.”

Guess what?

The resistance is real and it’s never going away.

Ever.

So what to do?

One, just be aware.  When you feel the resistance, know it’s your lizard brain at work.

Two, don’t get down on yourself because you’re feeling it. You’re supposed to. It’s what you do in spite of the resistance that counts.

Third, enlist whatever internal and external help you can find.  Friends, family members, colleagues, therapists, coaches, mantras, books, affirmations, etc…whatever works.  Do it.  As long as it’s in service of getting you to do the work.  To do what you set out to do. (Pressfield talks about his daily invocation to the artist gods to get his butt in the chair every day and write.  Great.  Do that.  Try it. What have you got to lose?)

The resistance is real.  It’s always there.  Always will be.

Ok.  Cool.  Now you know.

Proceed anyway.  That’s the real talent. That’s what will define you.