How To Really Accomplish Your Goals and Fight Resistance (Side Hustle Series Part 3)
This is the last installment in our series on side hustles. In the first post, we talked about some things you need to consider before you begin your side hustle. Next, we talked about turning your side job into your full-time job or business. So to round out the series, I thought we should discuss a thread that runs through all goal accomplishment endeavors, and that thread is resistance.
Defining Resistance
We live in a hyper-productive, hyper-get-it-done culture where there are tips, tricks, life hacks and best of lists, all designed to help you accomplish your goals efficiently. Do these tips work? Well, I haven’t tried them all, but I’d venture to say they do for the most part. So with a little bit of time and Google, it seems like we should all be able to turn any side gig into the full-time job of our dreams very easily. But we don’t.
What stops us is resistance.
What Is Resistance
In the foreword to the book War of Art, Robert McKee explains resistance like this:
[its] that destructive force inside human nature that rises whenever we consider a tough, long-term course of action that might do for us or others something that’s actually good.
In other words, resistance is the ultimate hater.
Resistance is that little voice in the back of your mind that says, “You sure you want to do that?” “That’s never going to work,” “People are going to think you’re weird,” “You have bills to pay and need a real job, not a dream.”
Resistance is the reason your employer promoted and acknowledged you for your work achievements this month, but you simply “can’t find the time” to start that book, art project, or business that you’ve been dreaming of for years.
Resistance sucks, and the worst part is you can’t solve it. Just as sure as you will have new goals to pursue, there will be new forms of resistance meeting you every step of the way. You will procrastination, over-identify with the drama of friends and family, incessantly read about self-help, eat cake, and be overcome by the desire to clean or organize anything, whenever you’re in the midst of doing work to complete a goal. I was supposed to write this post earlier this week. Instead, I’m the proud owner of a re-organized closet thanks to resistance.
How To Defeat Resistance
To accomplish your goals despite this internal force working against you, here are some tools to add to your arsenal:
Remember the Job Is Never Done
Just as I mentioned that I was supposed to write this post earlier this week, I also sat down to write it again today. And guess what. Resistance sat down with me again too. The only difference is that I remembered to be vigilant. I knew it would show up eventually; so I prepared for its pursuit. This post is the result. You “can’t set it and forget it” when it comes to resistance. Defeating it is an on-going process. Over time, the battle gets easier with certain tasks, but it’s always there.
Routines Help
We talk about habits as a means to increase productivity, but it’s also one of the best tools against resistance. Our minds love to develop routines because they can move them from our conscious mind (which requires more energy and effort) to an unconscious process that happens without a second thought.
For example, we don’t have to think about how to brush our teeth. We just do it. We learned that skill long ago, and we don’t have to remember any steps to complete the task. It’s a routine that happens automatically. The same can be true for our work. The more routines we create, the more things will just happen without thought or a battle with resistance.
Fear is Part of The Equation
For several years, I tried to get over my fears. I thought that if I were to conquer them I would be able to leave my job, start a business, start a family, etc. After trying that for way awhile, I realized that you never get over fear. It’s always there. Our job is to feel our fears and do the work anyway. The more you act in the face of fear, the more you realize that you don’t die or fall apart when you do something you are afraid of; you get things done.
You’ll Win The War
Despite the battles that I constantly fight with resistance, one thing that I’ve learned from watching others is that if I just keep showing up and doing the work, I’ll win the war. There is no secret sauce needed. The competition is only within me. As long as I keep showing up, I’ll get better. Things will get easier. Progress will naturally occur. My job is just to keep going in the face of it all.
Are you interested in facing resistance and accomplishing your goals? Then schedule a free call with me to define your 4th quarter goals and learn about my 4th Quarter Hustle group coaching program. Together we can win the year by accomplishing one to two major goals and develop a toolbox to fight resistance going forward. Schedule your free call here.