‘Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.’ Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield talked about the concept of Resistance in his excellent book The War of Art. Resistance (or ‘the lizard brain’, as Seth Godin calls it), is that force within us that prevents us from doing what really matters to us in favour of things that may seem urgent but are not important. As Steve Pressfield says, Resistance is elicited by ’any act that rejects immediate gratification in favour of long-term growth, health, or integrity’.
Learning to become aware and take control over Resistance is crucial if you want to create legacy. As you might have already realised reading previous blog posts, creating legacy is all about the long haul – in other words, about rejecting immediate gratification for long-lasting impact. Therefore, if we want to create legacy we have to be prepared to battle Resistance afresh every single day.
Some days, we will lose the battle. We will succumb to the temptation to respond to email first thing in the morning; we will skip our exercise routine, just this once; we will say to ourselves we will write those pages tomorrow, when we are feeling better etc. That’s okay. You cannot win every single battle. But it is important that you win the war. Be honest with yourself, and don’t let Resistance win.
Are you experiencing Resistance?
What are the things that prevent you from creating legacy? How does Resistance get the better of you? Share your story in the comments below.
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