Here are some thoughts for the New Year, 2010, of how to break through Resistance and do what you really need to do.
To start, you should really just pick up and read “The War of Art” by Steven Pressfield. It’s super short and will take you 4 hours tops to read if you just sit down and do it. All the ideas in this post are taken directly from there.
If you have a desire in your heart to pursue any artistic endeavor, or any fitness or health regime, or start any sort of entrepreneurial enterprise, or just make yourself into a better person (which you should!) this book is for you. Or if you just feel stuck and like crap, this book will help you realize why, and will inspire you into action. And if this book is for you, then you have encountered in your life, or are living with, the phenomenon with which it deals: Resistance.
“Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. Resistance is the enemy within.”
The following is a list, taken directly from the book, in no particular order, of those activities that most commonly elicit Resistance:
1. The pursuit of any calling in writing, painting, music, film, dance, or any creative art, however marginal or unconventional.
2. The launching of any entrepreneurial venture or enterprise, for profit or otherwise.
3. Any diet or health regimen.
4. Any program of spiritual advancement.
5. Any activity whose aim is tighter abdominals.
6. Any course or program designed to overcome an unwholesome habit or addiction.
7. Education of every kind.
8. Any act of political, moral, or ethical courage, including the decision to change for the better some unworthy pattern of thought or conduct in ourselves.
9. The undertaking of any enterprise or endeavor whose aim is to help others.
10. Any act that entails commitment of the heart. The decision to get married, to have a child, to weather a rocky patch in a relationship.
11. The taking of any principled stand in the face of adversity.
In short, resistance is the force that stops us from doing anything that is going to make ourselves and the world a better place. It’s funny that we live in a world which conditions us to feel horrible when we want to do something to make it better.
Even if you hate change or ingenuity or invention and are otherwise the most boring person on the face of earth, read this book and it will help you!
I hope it inspires a fantastic 2010.
With Love.
-Tom
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