Resistance
There are two lives.
The one we live and the unlived life. In between stands Resistance.
Resistance shows up everytime we stand up to do something important.
And the more important that thing is we are trying to accomplish, the more Resistance we will have to face.
If you want to become a doctor, you have to go through med school. That means ten years of schooling including bio-chem, massive amounts of debt, the MCATs in order to accomplish a lofty goal. No other way around it. You have to go through this Resistance to become a doctor.
So, if we know that this Resistance shows up every time we step into the unknown, we can use it as a compass. Our true north. When we are not sure what to do, where to go, we can look to Resistance and understand that this is the path that we need to take.
(HT Steve Pressfield)
You can find the answer
Here’s the thing, there is nothing you can read from this blog that you don’t already know.
Thanks to Google and the internet, there is more information than any person can digest. There is nothing out there you can’t find. There are no secrets.
The question isn’t what is it that I need to learn but what do I need to be reminded of?
If I want to quit smoking, I know need to stop smoking. Simple, right? Of course, if you ask anyone that has tried to quit they will tell you that it isn’t that easy.
What helps a reminder of why I want to live a life tobacco free. Sometimes constantly we need that reminder of why I am saying no in the short run and why this will benefit me in the long run.
Indeed, we are not only blinded to the obvious but we are also blind to our own blindness.
Skills not talent
Make no mistake these are skills. Skills that each of us can learn. Skills that we can practice. Skills are taught and learned. These are not things you are born with. You may grow to be 6’8 and be able to dunk a basketball but not everyone is born with that genetic makeup. By contrast, saying no to the marshmallow (or to a cigarette) that’s a skill.
This is good news. Good news because we can learn the skills we need to become the person we say we want to become. We can put the 10,000 hours in to become a world class expert.
Skills change our posture.
People like us do things like this
We can adopt this posture of people like us who do stuff like this.
Who are people like us?
This is a picture of the 1927 Solvay Conference. 29 of the best physicists were there. Curie, Bohr, Einstein…you name them, they were there. Except…
Except, those invited didn’t necessarily have the accolades or the popularity to be seated at the table with someone with the likes of Einstein. And yet, after the conference was over, 17 of the antendees went on to win Nobel Prizes.
17!
You weren’t invited to the conference because you they were Nobel Prize winners; they became Nobel Prize winners because they were invited to the conference.
Never ready
It never feels like the right time to show up. To stand on center stage in front of a crowd. Overtime, it can become habit to say, “I need more practice.” We all do.
Here’s the thing, you are never ready to be a parent. You are going to have your doubts, not feel good enough. And yet, the baby comes and you have to hold your child for the first time. That changes you.
There can never be enough reassurance. Instead, you have to jump put yourself out there. Too often, we waiting thinking the light is going to shine a path from A to Z without any potholes or detours. Life doesn’t work this way. You have to have to step into the unknown and let the light follow. You don’t need it be bright, just enough to see the next step and keep going.
Creating art, making work that matters, putting on a show…that takes emotional labor. Skills you can learn. The same skills you can deploy to make a difference in the world, to become the person you were born to be. To look Resistance square in the eye and push it out of the way.
The music is in you.
Go make a ruckus.
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