I’m currently working on some exciting projects that will see me launching some new resources here at Life is Limitless in the not too distant future. As I do this, I’m finding that I’m encountering some familiar feelings of resistance that always seem to show up just around the time I’m planning on putting myself out there.
I do have my strategies for dealing with this kind of resistance but today it dawned on me that the recurring nature of it, might be an indication that my strategies aren’t working as well as they should be. This breakthrough came during a coaching session earlier today. Having talked through how I usually deal with resistance when it comes up, my coach delivered the following bombshell line to me, “have you considered that you might be resisting your resistance?”
My usual technique for dealing with resistance involves pushing on through, upping my game, talking myself around. What it never involves is accepting, embracing, listening to or sitting with my resistance. In fact sitting with it is precisely what I do my best to avoid. Today I learnt that as long as I ignore my resistance and the reasons behind it, the longer it is going to keep on tapping me on the shoulder to get my attention.
This week I plan to spend some time each day sitting with my resistance, keeping it company if you will and spending some quality time trying to get to the bottom of its concerns. I’m hoping that this gentler approach might be more fruitful for me than my usual tactics of avoidance and/or attack.
Hi there, I'm Caroline. Welcome to Life is Limitless, my blog about personal development with a focus on facing fears and living a life without limits. Check out my about page to find out more and pop your email in the box below to subscribe for regular updates.
Fantastic question indeed! May need to give that a go as well…
Look forward to seeing what you’re working on
Steph recently posted..4 Steps to Reframing: Which BEATs Will You Choose?
Thanks Steph, yeah it’s a question that has certainly had an impact on me!
For a second, I thought the Borg were coming and you’d been assimilated
That’s an interesting idea that you’re resisting resistance. A few weeks back I was studying the Law of Non-Resistance in the 11 Forgotten Laws series, and I remember learning then that non-resistance means learning to accept things that you cannot change as they are. “What we resist persists.”
Since that lesson, when I start to feel overwhelmed, I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and tell myself “I got this. I can handle it.” When I open my eyes, I have the confidence to handle the situation before me and can clearly think my way through what I need to do.
And yes, problems ignored do tend to keep tapping you on the shoulder until you answer them
Grady Pruitt recently posted..Three Keys to Building Your Success
Haha, thanks Grady, I love the phrase “what we resist persists”, so true! Acceptance is such a powerful tool, that is easier said than done but I’m always blown away by the results when I can accept whatever I am facing at that moment, thanks for sharing