when resistance strikes

Resistance (as pointed out by Steven Pressfield) is what keeps us stagnant and stuck. It stops us from living our best life and keeps us from becoming our highest self. I feel vulnerable as I share this with you but over the past few months, I have let Resistance win over me.

It seems like winter and cold became a fertile time for Resistance to breed and overpower me. My sleep cycle got disrupted. I started sleeping more and waking up late. I ended up distancing myself from the 5 AM Club. I chose the warmth of my blanket and bed, the comfort of being my lower self and the sweetness of sleep over showing up early for my day and doing the work of a human being as pointed out by Marcus Aurelius. I could have easily hidden this from the eyes and ears of my readers and people who follow me, but I wanted to be real and share my weakness with them. I wanted to share this with you. I’m in the same journey as you are and I also fall off from my discipline wagon from time to time. This is the funny thing about success, as soon as you start feeling confident, life happens and you find yourself falling behind again. Success is a constant act of showing up, it’s a rent that is due every single day.

I’m working towards getting back on the wagon of early rising. Resistance still has a stronger grip over me, there are times when I feel subdued and defeated thinking early rising is not for me. But then the spirit within me reassures me that it’s just a matter of time till I become a consistent early riser again. Against my better judgment, I am choosing the pain of regret against the pain of discipline, the pleasure of comfort against the joy of achievement. And that’s what happens to most of us. We unconsciously choose to get led by our Resistance instead of taking charge and walking on the path of success.

Resistance is real and powerful and I’ve been facing it closely as I get back to taking cold showers every morning, a habit that I had stopped during the winter time. Today was Day 3 of my new streak. Two days back, when I started taking cold showers, I had this intrinsic strength within me. I felt Resistance but my “stupidity” and fearlessness won over it and I got in the shower. It was the most alive I felt in the past few months, even if the cold water sprays felt like thousands of painful but in a weird way pleasurable knives poking at me all the time. After a while, I start enjoying it as I screamed and laughed at the same time.

But today, I could feel the Resistance overpower me before I got in the shower. I had a longer experience with the flinch, and there came a point when I actually turned the knob of the flowing cold shower off. I felt Resistance was acting through me on my behalf. I felt disappointed, it was not anger but a disbelief and a mild shock — an embarrassment of how I could have done that. But shortly the stronger me reprimanded me and turned the knob of the cold shower on again, swallowed the flinch and got back under it, shouting, screaming but also laughing. I felt alive again and after a few difficult moments, I started loving it. I  started weak but in the end I defeated Resistance.

And I had this epiphany within me — one thing that truly dictates and differentiates success and failure, defeat and accomplishment, weakness and courage is overcoming Resistance. The hidden inertia, the subtle pull of our lower self, the unseen force that does not want our best self to show up — Resistance — is what keeps us stuck and unbeknownst to us we continue living a life beneath our potential.

It turns out every day is a battle against Resistance. I chose the journey of a Yogi, an artist, and being a better human, and now I realize that along with that I also chose another journey — the journey of a warrior.

I need to make a decision and choose a side. Success is all about persistence, grit, consistency and doing what the majority won’t. It takes only a few seconds of courage to become a part of the league of elite and the extraordinary. It’s all about gathering the activation energy within us and taking the leap. A few moments of courage to get out of our bed, step into the cold shower, go talk to that beautiful stranger, send an important business email, click the publish button, raise your hand or get on the stage, and then it’s all about dealing with reality. The most important thing is overcoming Resistance, and not whether you get your desired outcome or not. Because when you overcome Resistance, you already win!

When Resistance strikes but we still do what’s needed from us, that’s what makes us successful. As I keep on saying, success is a journey, not a destination. And every day, we need to renew our commitment to it.

I know I need to train harder to win over my Resistance. It’s a constant battle. To become a superior human being, to do what 99% people won’t. It’s not easy and I don’t know if I’ll win every single day. But I want to fight, even if I keep disappointing and embarrassing myself. Because deep down I know I deserve an amazing life and lifestyle and to live my fullest expression. And I will not rest until it becomes my reality.

PS: This essay was written on March 8, 2019.