I’ve been swimming nearly every day in the past few months. The water is beginning to become warmer but this wasn’t the case 2 months back. I’d be jumping into what felt like shards of ice (I’m exaggerating of course – the temperature was probably around 21-22 and cold!) at the end of a long day with no one in the pool but myself. In short, I was prime target for the resistance. It had this big voice in my head telling me to go back every time I stepped near the tool.
So, of course, I did exactly the opposite. I wanted to understand the resistance and decided to spend a few days studying it. I discovered there are 3 weapons the resistance uses consistently.
1. Time. The first thing the resistance says is “You don’t need to do this today. You can do this tomorrow.” It hates deadlines and loves playing for time and procrastinating. To give you an example, in the first few days, I’d manage to get into the water (at waist level) and it would take a full 3-4 minutes before I willed myself to start swimming. These 3-4 minutes were spent in dialog with the resistance. So, after a while, I just started jumping in. No time for negotiation.
2. Disregard of your reputation. The resistance doesn’t care about the past. You could have a reputation as a resistance fighter and it wouldn’t matter. The resistance is all about the here and now. The only thing it hates is confidence. After a while, I started gaining confidence that, no matter how cold the water was, I wouldn’t turn back. Once it knows you know, it finds it hard to fight you.
3. Lack of clarity. This idea is building on the idea of confidence. If you walk in saying – “I’m going to swim 30 minutes and will do it no matter what” – it is hard for the resistance to negotiate. Clarity is the death blow. Use it.
Eventually, that’s how I kept up my swimming habit – I jumped in when I was unsure how cold the water was, I had clear goals and objectives and always repeated to myself “I’ve never regretted a swim yet”, and I built confidence over time that I’d jump in now matter what.
Of course, this is applicable far beyond the pool to every activity that makes us better – getting important things done, studying, exercising, reading, etc. It’s the same 3 weapons.
Once you understand the resistance, it is easier to fight it.
A Learning a Day 