Do you want to overcome internal resistance that stops you from working on your goals on a daily basis?
Whenever you delay important actions or do something that hurts your progress, that’s internal resistance manifested in your life.
Maybe you take actions that negatively affect your relationships or arrive late at work often. These self-sabotaging actions or lack of action are forms of resistance. Internal resistance can also appear as laziness, procrastination, apathy, and other feelings. They keep you from taking practical steps to grow your business and your personal life.
The good news is that it is possible to overcome internal resistance once you know how. Let’s dive in and check out helpful ways you can take positive action in life today.
Manage the need for safety
Resistance appears when we try to make changes in our lives. Even when we make positive and life-affirming changes, our brains may respond with negativity. At a deeper level, we all desire safety and security – a feeling that’s created by the primitive part of our brain that’s responsible for our flight-or-fight response.
But the brain’s need for safety becomes irrational and even self-sabotaging when it attributes changes like getting a new boss with a life-threatening event. You’ll find it easier to overcome resistance and take action when you understand what the brain is doing. Knowing that thoughts of resistance have no foundation in reality makes it easier to shake them off.
You’ll avoid procrastinating, you’ll take a chance at a new job, meet new people, find more customers, and do more overall. Start by being aware that resistance is a common but harmless reaction to change and that it’s not something you need to listen to.
Realize that resistance is temporary
Another important thing to be aware of is that all thoughts are temporary. So, when you feel resistance, the best thing you can do is to just ride it out.
Most feelings and thoughts pass on their own, they intensify and remain with us when we worry about them and try to change them.
So, the next time you want to stop overthinking or get off social media, instead of fighting the urge to do these things, try to be more present with them. Get interested in your thoughts and realize that they’ll go eventually. And you can move on to more healthy activities.
Check if you’re thinking in extremes
One of the ways resistance manifests is by making us think in extremes. For example, demanding perfection in your writing, your appearance, or other work is thinking in extremes.
When you go to extremes when having personal and professional expectations, it automatically sets you up for stress and anxiety.
Here are some things to check for when you’re feeling too overwhelmed to make your goals happen:
- Do you overgeneralize? For example, if you face rejection in one line of your career, you may think that you don’t stand a chance anymore. However, this overgeneralization can prevent you from trying in other areas
- Are you focused on specific outcomes? If you want to join a specific company or university only, that specific demand can make you stress more and miss out on other opportunities
When you stop thinking in extremes and develop a more balanced way of looking at life, the emotions you generate also become easier to manage.
Conclusion
Resistance is not always a bad thing. It lets you know that you’re challenging yourself and pushing yourself to do extraordinary things you might not try otherwise.
Although resistance is a good sign, it can leave you feeling incapacitated if you alllow it to.
We’ve looked at a few effective ways to do away with resistance. As you work on understanding what resistance is and how to deal with it, you’ll find it easier to achieve important goals in life.