It's often said that the hardest times in life come before solving a problem, not after. This resonates deeply, especially when pursuing challenging goals. This article shares three methods for overcoming internal resistance, based on personal experience.
The Reality of Internal Resistance
Since embarking on creating content, specifically posting five videos weekly for over a year, the immense workload became apparent. Each video requires daily book reading, filming, and editing. Though seemingly a mistake, I've persevered. Despite the dedication, each video shoot still feels painful. This isn't the pain of reading, but the pain of summarizing and preparing to film. This feeling is what can be described as internal resistance.
The Land of Life: Facing Your Enemy
As described in the book, The Land of Life, internal resistance is a constant enemy, a challenge faced every day, every hour, every minute. This is the resistance that prevents you from taking a desired action and that must be faced at every turn. As an example, Hitler, originally a painter, may have turned to politics to avoid facing the pain and fear associated with his art. Internal resistance can be a powerful force, like a demon trying to kill your creativity.
Three Methods to Combat Internal Resistance
1. Turn Your Life into a Routine
When facing internal resistance, it's crucial to abandon the childish fantasy of it disappearing. Instead, accept it as a constant and transform your life into a routine. This creates a sense of obligation.
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Force yourself to engage in the activity daily, even when you don't feel like it.
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The goal is to prevent breaking the habit.
Being accustomed to a routine is invaluable when facing internal resistance. If you fail to follow that routine, you will have the feeling that something is missing in your life. This is the power of habit: doing it consistently eases psychological discomfort.
2. Force Yourself to Start
Marx once said, "The entrance of science is like the entrance of hell." Similarly, analyzing problems scientifically can feel overwhelming and painful, like entering hell or enduring torture. What feels like a frying pan before you start will change once you get going.
It is not necessarily the problem but the fear of the problem that is daunting. The best approach is to force yourself to start.
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Dedicate just five minutes to the task.
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Once engaged, you might enter a state of flow.
This addresses the paralysis of feeling overwhelmed, such as writing a lengthy to-do list and only completing a fraction of the tasks. Focus on beginning, and the momentum will often carry you forward. At least determine a scope of performance in order to manage the task.
3. Turn Negative Energy into Motivation
Personally, external encouragement often falls flat, possibly due to a rebellious streak. However, negative feedback or disbelief becomes a powerful motivator. If someone says it's impossible, the immediate reaction is to prove them wrong.
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Use negativity as fuel to drive your actions.
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Prove the naysayers wrong.
This method involves transforming negative energy into a driving force. If someone believes you can't do something, use that doubt to propel you forward. It can provide the necessary motivation to overcome internal resistance and achieve your goals. The hope is that the doubters continue to doubt in order to provide the necessary motivation.
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