Resistance is natural. At a certain point you may wonder, is this process working? This is actually a sign that “YES IT’S WORKING!” Resistance happens for a few reasons. Mainly, homeostasis and our subconscious mind are constantly working to protect us. Our mind and body are always seeking to keep things the same to protect what is known and established. It is part of our survival, so any new things, change, or growth are often interpreted by our subconscious as something dangerous to our survival.
The good news is, when we begin to feel resistance in our mind/body, we know that things are starting to shift…our subconscious mind may be trying to fight it off to protect homeostasis, but this is the point where we lean in further, and work a little harder, until the subconscious mind realizes that this is the new normal, and then it eventually accepts and adjusts to this new reality.
So don’t be upset when you begin to feel or see resistance in yourself. This is natural and it only means you are making progress! It is a sign to “lean in!”
I believe another reason resistance occurs is because fear holds us back. On a subconscious level, we are all afraid to step into our best selves and feel what that feels like. But what if we said “I’m afraid,” and then did it anyway? What would happen? How would our life be different? How would our life be better?
Sheryl Sandberg, a former COO of Facebook once mobilized global goal dialogue when she challenged the audience with one question: “What would I do if I wasn’t afraid?” Most people answered with their goals and passions.
We cannot let the fear of failing hold us back. It is important that we practice failing and understand that there are no failures, just feedback and learning. But this is something we must practice. Just like pain, failure can teach us so much.
Studies show that the brain is designed to learn from failing and that it actually learns more from failing than succeeding. Once this is understood as part of the process, the process gets easier. Failure provides us with powerful learning experiences and helps us generate future strategies.
Although our society avoids talking about failures, everyone fails, including high performers. Failure is part of the journey to greatness and how you respond to fear is your choice. Our ability to fail and keep going is like a muscle that grows stronger with practice. Developing these strategies of “failing productively” is one of the core constructs we work with.
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