Beating Resistance: How To Show Up When You Don't Like It

Self-discipline only goes down to one thing:

Doing what you say you’re going to do.

But that is also the hardest part. 

I can’t count the number of times I wanted to snooze my alarm clock and enjoy my warm bed instead of writing in the morning.

I can prepare the night before:

• Create an outline

• Visualize myself doing the thing

• And beat resistance

But this isn't enough.

I know because I failed many times.

I overestimated my willpower and underestimated resistance.

I learned the hard way that willpower rarely beats resistance. 

Instead of trying to fight it, you have to dance with it.

The same thing happens in life, the more you fight what the universe is doing, the more you suffer.

The more you dance with it, the easier life gets.

Here’s how I do it:

Spicing it up

This is my #1 cheat code when doing hard things that I know are hard for me.

At first, it feels hard, but not because the habit itself is hard. It’s “thinking” about doing the habit that makes it hard.

The mental preparation always gets to you.

When you know you have to go to the gym, you think about changing into your workout clothes, driving to the gym, and lifting weights. Yet once you are in the gym, lifting weights is easy and even satisfying.

When you think about writing in the morning, you think about sitting at your desk, overthinking what you will write about, how you will write it, and so on. But once you are there, the writing process isn’t all that hard. 

You are dreading the thing because you think that it’s hard to do.

And that is the problem. Instead, you have to look forward to the thing. You should be excited that you’re going to the gym. You should think that writing is fun. 

I make things fun by doing something I already enjoy.

For example, I enjoy hanging out with friends. So I convinced them to work out with me. Now we all look forward to going to the gym regularly.

I enjoy drinking coffee in the morning. So I paired this with my morning writing session. Now I look forward to my morning rituals and experiment with different kinds of coffee to add even more spice. 

Pro tip: If you’re struggling to wake up early, invest in smart bulbs or light alarm clocks. They do what they claim to do. I put a lamp with smart lights across my bed. By the time my alarm clock wakes me up, they shine bright right across my face. Then I remember I want coffee and get on with my morning. 

Defining my priorities

Seth Godin made the decision when he was young that he would be the person who doesn’t miss deadlines. He sets strict rules about what he wants to do and what he doesn’t want to do.

Jim Collins tracks his creative hours to hit 100 hours over a 365-day cycle. At the end of the day, he logs his creative hours on an Excel sheet. 

A combination of both works for me. I don’t want to be a disciplined person like David Goggins who never misses a day and would force himself to run when his knees are giving up.

Instead, I try to spend the first 1-2 hours of my day accomplishing 1 task - that’s it. Then I can do anything I want for the rest of the day. I’m free. But it also motivates me to be conscious of my actions throughout the day.

If I don’t capture ideas during the day, I have nothing to write about.

If I don’t take at least 30mins consuming helpful information, my content sucks.

If I don’t take 10k steps, lift weights, or do physical activities, my mental performance declines.

If I doomscroll on social media, I get attention residue and find it hard to focus or get a good sleep.

If I don’t go to bed on time, I struggle to wake up in the morning.

I designed my life around my priorities.

Writing about what I enjoy

It's almost ridiculous that we force ourselves to do the things we don't want and wonder why we're not happy.

Don't let the gurus tell you what to do.

Yes, templates work.

Yes, you have to write about what the audience wants if you want to get eyes on your content.

Yes, you can learn from big creators.

But all of this doesn’t matter if it will cause you to stop. Your goal, especially in the beginning, is to fall in love with the craft. If you do the thing for the sake of doing the thing, then you lose interest early. That’s exactly what happens if you tell a child to read a history book even though he doesn’t enjoy it. He could do it, but eventually, he’ll treat reading as a chore. If you want him to fall in love with reading, let him read what he wants to read. Eventually, he’ll start to like reading and then explore other stuff. His interest in reading grows.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself by listening to what you should write about. You get to set the rules.

And if you’re here for the long game, why does it matter when you will win?

It will happen.

That’s it for today, my friends!

I hope you’re having a lovely weekend.

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