The “Resistance” is the term that was coined by Steven Pressfield for the force that opposes us when we are trying to do good work, and in particular, create new work.
Maybe you want to lose some weight, but something pops up that stops you going to the gym – that’s the resistance.
Maybe you want to record an album, but you can’t quite figure out that last song – that’s the resistance.
Maybe you are trying to write a blog post – but there’s no clear idea coming and you are exhausted – That’s the resistance too.
The resistance is effectively anything at all that stops us.
Conversely, if something stops us, it was almost certainly the resistance.
Now, of course, once we become aware of the nature of the resistance, and that it is a human condition, we can joke about it, and try to dance around it a little more.
It makes it a little easier to move through it, because we have given it a name.
Having said all that though, it will still win sometimes. And that’s OK.
When it beats us… well, we lost that round. Let’s go another round tomorrow.
Identifying the resistance isn’t so that we never get beaten by it, it’s simply so that we become aware of it. And when we do get beaten down, we take the medicine and move on.
