It’s 5:30 am, and you hear that buzzing of your alarm. What do you do? If you hit the snooze and roll back over, you just lost the first battle of the day. You let resistance kick your bootay. Ouch.
Resistance is interesting. Defined by Matthew Kelly in Resisting Happiness, “resistance” is “that sluggish feeling of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you. It’s the inclination to do something that you unabashedly know is not good for you, and it is everything in between. It’s the desire and tendency to delay something you know you should be doing right now.”
I know i get that feeling all the time. It often leads me to procrastination, and for me procrastination leads to unwanted stress or ultimately feeling of failure. Whether it is little things like doing the dishes or more serious long term habits like taking care of my health, resistance often gets in my way. But guess what, the dishes are always going to be there and I know that I am rarely ever going to really want to do them, even though the kitchen will look better once they are all put away. And unfortunately, we also know that putting your health on the back burner for too long can lead to major health issues down the road.
For some reason, however, we still try to resist doing what we know should be done, many times until it is too late. But, I have a simple trick to help fight resistance immediately. People who know me know that I am extremely competitive. I hate losing more than I like winning. To know that each time I hit snooze or don’t do something, I am letting my resistance win instead of the “best-version-of-myself” and “who I want to be.” This feeling eats at my soul.
The person I want to be hears resistance knocking then knocks back saying, “not this time.” Then I get up and get moving. I get the dishes done. I put together and schedule my workouts and healthy snacks for the week. I make a plan to put my best foot forward. And then I take action.
For many things in life, taking that first step, beginning a new habit, making a change, is that hardest part. It is said that a space shuttle uses 96% of its fuel in take off. And for people, sometimes it has to take 96% of our effort to get started. Why? Because resistance keeps calling. It’s the battle with resistance which is holding you back from your dreams, your desires, your ability to lose weight, your ability to quit a bad habit, your strength to start something new.
That tug of war game between you and resistance will always happen. And resistance will always put up a hard fight. Resistance, unfortunately, isn’t going anywhere. Each morning and for multiple times throughout the day, you have to make decisions. And with each decision, resistance will creep in. I like to tell the resistance that I am more credible and loyal to who “I want to be” than to who “Resistance” wants me to stay. By telling myself that I have self-credibility, I am loyal to my dreams each morning and for multiple times throughout the day, I get moving. I get moving first thing in the morning, before anyone else in the house is awake. I get moving on the simple chores like those pesky dishes. I get moving on my workouts. I get moving and play with the kids. I get moving and try to move the needle of the business. The best feeling, however, is that with each decision to support the best version of me, the more confidence I build. Confidence is a great resistance warrior. And with time and practice, the pesky voice of resistance becomes a little quieter and easier to fight. I know it’s voice, I know it’s next move, and I am strong enough and motivated enough to shut it down.
