One of the most impactful skills to learn that will automatically drive you toward success is knowing how to recognize resistance and overcome it. It is inevitable that you will encounter resistance in all facets of your life, but the one type of resistance you need to laser focus on and eradicate is the kind you can control–resistance that you create!
Recognize Inner Resistance
You have set a goal–something that you know you absolutely need to do to take your business to the next level, and you just stop or talk yourself out of it. That is resistance, and you will find that you usually have “good reasons” for why you just quit. Often, resistance shows up disguised as other tasks you need to accomplish. Maybe you had some emails to return, or you thought of a phone call you needed to make or any other excuse you can come up with for not doing what you know needs to be done. THAT is inner resistance! It is YOU creating a reason for not doing what you said you were going to do–not doing what you know needs to be done.
Stop Basing Actions of Feelings
Another way self-created resistance shows up is in the form of feelings. To me, this is the funniest one–the excuse of–I don’t feel like it. What? Since when did feeling like doing something determine if something gets accomplished or not? When you were in school or your first job, did you get to decide what you felt like doing? Of course not! So why would you decrease your chances of success at this point in your life–your career–by taking actions based solely on feelings?
If you think you will magically wake up one morning excited about doing something you are not particularly interested in doing, I have bad news. It’s never going to happen because it is not a habit in your life yet. The resistance shows up when you make a commitment, or you set a goal to achieve something that you haven’t achieved–it will always show up. You have to take the initiative to push through those feelings and keep moving forward.
Reprogram Status Quo
The reason that resistance always shows up is that it is part of your lifetime of programming designed to keep you at status quo. Why? Because status quo is always safe. No matter how much you dislike where you are, no matter how broken it is, no matter how much you crave walking away from the status quo, it is hardwired into your subconscious to keep you exactly where you are because it represents safety.
Every action you take has to be with an intentional commitment to overcome that internal, built-in resistance whose job it is to keep you where you are. If you genuinely desire to break through to a different level, then it is vital that you make choices and overcome the resistance. The resistance, in most cases, is bullshit. You are not too old; you are not too young; you are smart enough–you have to get over these paralyzing thoughts because these thoughts just keep you from taking the next steps.
Be Truthful with Yourself
If you want to stop the self-defeating practice of resistance, you must conduct a truthful assessment of your mindset. Take an honest account of the programming that has been running in your mind and keeping you from stepping out and making the changes you need to make. Most of the answers you will discover are lies and completely untrue–they are complete bullshit. You owe it to yourself to know what is holding you back, and not lie to yourself about why you are not overcoming the resistance!
Take Action
When you arrive at this truth, it is time to take action. Whatever you have been resisting, take a bold move in the direction of overcoming it. Do not allow that fear–that resistance–that old programming designed to keep you where you are to stifle your commitment to the next step.
Because if you don’t change anything–that point you want to reach is always at a distant part in the future. That’s what the resistance is designed to do–it is designed to keep pushing that point out further and further and further until you give up. Once the resistance is overcome and you take decisive action, then everything starts to fall into motion. That is how you overcome resistance by the conscious effort and recognition of what resistance is and by finding the courage to push through it.
My job as a strategist is to help you understand how your mindset, growth, and business strategies work together. That’s what I do! If you want coaching or more support in the area of overcoming resistance and making bold moves toward your professional goals, then join me at The Growth Architect and let’s grow!
Beate Chelette is The Growth Architect & Founder of The Women’s Code, a training company specialized in providing companies an ROI on Balanced Leadership. She has been named one of 50 must-follow women entrepreneurs by the Huffington Post. A first-generation immigrant who found herself $135,000 in debt as a single parent, she bootstrapped her passion for photography into a highly successful global business and eventually sold it to Bill Gates in a multimillion-dollar deal.
Beate works with business leaders and supports organizations by developing and providing training the training, tools, and expertise to create and maintain a balanced, equal, and inclusive work environment that fosters creativity, employee engagement, and corporate growth.
Recent clients include Merck, Women’s Legislative Caucus of California, Cal State University Dominguez Hills, Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), NFTE, CreativeLive, the Association of Corporate Growth, and TracyLocke.
Beate is the author of the #1 International Amazon Bestseller “Happy Woman Happy World – How to Go From Overwhelmed to Awesome” a book that corporate trainer and best-selling author Brian Tracy calls “a handbook for every woman who wants health, success and a fulfilling career.
To book Beate to speak or train please connect here. Your Time Is Valuable!
