Facing Resistance or Dread

These days when I face resistance, it’s usually from a place of dread. I hardly face fear, and when I do, it’s usually there to protect me from actual harm and danger. Fear doesn’t seem to cripple me as much as dread. If I procrastinate, usually it’s because I don’t enjoy the process or because it doesn’t feel easy (mentally or physically).

So then I wondered, what would happen if I consciously decided to do more of the things that I resist? Would the resistance lessen? Would I be able to handle resistance more easily? Would it help to improve my quality of life? This is a possible monthly or 30-day challenge that I may tackle in the future.

One approach to facing resistance (or dread) is to decide if it is important to you, and if it is, then take a small step to achieve it. So if you hate cleaning/organizing, it could be as simple as putting away or throwing out one item every time you get out of your chair. Or, you could set a timer for 1 minute every evening to organize the items on your desk. Or, you could wash a dish every time you step into the kitchen. Make it simple and easy enough so that you’ll have no excuse not to do it.

Another approach is to figure out the source of resistance, and to address it or change the circumstances. For example, if you dread exercising but want to do more of it, you could look into different sports or classes to see if there’s something you haven’t tried yet that you would enjoy. Or, you could make it more social by recruiting a friend to be your workout buddy. Or, you could find a simple exercise that you could start off doing every day for just one minute, and build up from there. Or, you could do sets of squats while watching your favorite show.

The major takeaways here are to make the task easier, simpler, or more enjoyable. I’m not a fan of the “discipline” approach, where you push yourself to do it anyway for an extended period of time. Personally, I just end up feeling burnt out in the end, and then it takes me a while to recover. It’s better to take small steps that build up into a long-term lifestyle habit.