Resisting Resistance

I don’t know about you but I have a lot of internal resistance to certain tasks. There are things I just don’t want to do, but feel I need to do them. It could be stuff like cleaning the toilet, but it isn’t. The stuff I resist the most are things that tax my internal SELF.

The topic of resistance is central to Zen Habit of overcoming Resistance to create new and better habits, to find happiness and simplicity, to do what you need to do and love to do. I guess this means that overcoming resistance is important to me, but that doesn’t make it easier for me to overcome my feelings of resistance.

Doing something new is sometimes hard for me. Like I need to go downtown and take a written and driving test and I am having trouble making me do this. The resistance comes not from my belief that it is going to be hard to do, but that it is new. Confronting people is hard for me. Just cleaning up my art room so I can actually sit down and do some art work is hard for me. I want to do it, but something inside me resists doing it.

Here are some ways I try to overcome the Resistance that resides within me.

1. Awareness is always Number One:

Every aspect of life is enhanced by awareness. It is the first step in the AA 12 Step Program. It is central to Buddhism and Christian contemplative prayer. The problem is that we are usually Unaware, and very comfortable with our unawareness. When I say Awareness is number one I am not talking so much about being aware of what needs to be done. I’m referring to awareness of my resistance. I need to notice that I am resisting working on some task. You see, it is easy to get off on some other more attractive activity if you are unaware of your resisting sensations and thoughts. For example, I am writing this blog instead of getting in my truck and going down to the DMV. I am resisting one task in favor of this more pleasant task.

Realizing that I am resisting is my first step in doing what I want to be done, but don’t want to do. Once you become aware of this resistance, you can fight it, and while you may not always beat it, your chances of overcoming internal resistance is far more likely when you are aware that the resistance is at work within you. .

2. Think like a Pro. Think like a Winner:

In my mind a winner comes to tasks, obstacles, and resistance, ready to get things done. I had a group of friends back in the ‘60s, three guys trying to make it as a folk singing group. The banjo player had a Pro/Winner mind-set. The other two were having a good time, playing music, going to little groups and putting on their show, but they really had no interest in being a successful group with a list of hit records, and maybe movie deals. The difference in how they were thinking made two guys resistant to practice, and willing to sort of bluff their way through. The Pro thinking banjo player had far less resistance to the nit and gritty of the music business. When you approach work like a pro, and you’ll get more work done.

3. Be focused and clear:

It is not possible to do everything.

Time is God’s way of keeping everything from happening at once. ~Unknown

Before I start my day I make lists of what has to be done, and if the list is not too long I add some stuff to the bottom of things I would like to get done. The list is my way of being focused and clear about what tasks are priorities for my day. It goes like this:

a.) List and prioritize
b.) Do
c.) Move on to the next most important task

4. Subtract what distracts:

Beware that it is easy to be distracted by eliminating your distractions. Don’t spend a lot of time eliminating distractions, but instead use the Goldilocks Guideline: pick what is not too much, and not too little, but what is just right. Just clear off enough of the desk that you have a space to use. Run through the phone messages and emails and divide them into two groups [what must I deal with now?, and what can I deal with later?] Rush through the bothersome get started tasks, and then get to work.

5. Have a set time and place:

This is a form of protestation and goal setting. I make dates with myself. I will start at Such&such a time, and I will start when I am Such&such a place. For me I start my day by walking my dog, cleaning the litter box, making my coffee, and then, by 6 am at the latest I start writing. I have a specific place to go to do that writing. I find that if I am at my specific place at the appointed time, I feel like writing. If I am late, or try to do my writing in some different place, I’m off my game, and things don’t go well. Have a set start time, and you’ll have to see what works for you, but the important thing is the set starting time. And when that time comes, you have to start. No exceptions.

6. Have a set ending time and dangle a carrot:

Often I resist tasks that seem like they are going to consume my life and keep me forever from doing other stuff that I enjoy more. If that is how you feel [awareness] then set an ending time. When the kitchen is a mess, and I hate kitchen clean up, I set an ending time. “I will work on this for one hour, and then I will do THIS for an hour. Maybe I’m not done. Maybe I want to paint, or write, rather than do some household chore, but if I set an ending time, and dangle some carrot [some reward] before me, I am more willing to do what I’ve been resisting doing.

7. Know why:

Know your motivation. Ask yourself, “Why am I doing this? Why is this task important to me? How will this task benefit me? What is it working towards? And how important is the successful accomplishment of the task to me? Why is it important? We all need to know these things because knowing helps us build up the motivation needed to overcome our feelings of Resistance.
8. Just start:

Just Do It! ~Nike ad

Put your butt in gear and just do what you know needs to be done. Planning is great, but planning doesn’t get the plan done. The only thing that gets it done is doing it. Just starting has amazing power because, very often, just starting eliminates your feelings of resistance.
So stop reading this. For me it is to stop writing. And just start! So I’m loading this on my blog, and I’m getting up and driving down to the DMV.