Resistance Comes Second
One of the key aspects of Resistance (self-doubt, fear, procrastination, perfectionism, self-sabotage) is that it never arises alone.
That negative voice in our head only comes in response to (and reaction against) a DREAM, i.e. the book we want to write, the film we dream of making, the business we want to start.
Resistance comes second.
The Dream comes first.
Resistance’s aim is to stop our dream, to get us to quit, to keep us from becoming the artist or person we were born to be.
Here’s the visual I use to help me see this:
Imagine a tree in the middle of a sunny meadow.
The instant the tree appears, its shadow appears with it.
The tree is our dream.
The shadow is Resistance.
If there were no tree, there would be no shadow.
How does it help us to understand this? Because when we see that shadow, i.e. when we hear the voice of Resistance in our heads—telling us we’re not good enough, we’ll never be able to succeed in actualizing our dream, etc.—we can be certain that THERE’S A TREE THERE.
In other words, our DREAM.
If we’re experiencing Resistance, that’s a good sign. Painful as it may be … and as formidable an opponent as it is … we can take courage from its appearance.
If there were no tree, there would be no shadow.
If there were no dream, there would be no Resistance.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
It seems that our success is dependent upon our relationship with Resistance. Since we will never overcome it, we must simply perform our tasks in spite of it everyday. There’s no getting around it, or tactical hack that can overcome Resistance!
It’s amazing how easy it is to forget these lessons from Steve, that he has kindly approached from so many different directions. I very much need right now to remember Resistance’s tricks. Present manifestations: (1) You have so much work on right now, and the mortgage won’t pay itself! (2) You are so tired, and deserve downtime. (3) Look at this other shiny thing that is so much fun and so compelling!
Thanks Steve.
Peter
Brilliant. I’d rather have the tree with its shadow than a barren field. I recently came across a motto, who dares wins. Can’t recall exactly, but I think it’s British special forces. I wish everyone a daring week.
Thanks, Steven. This came at the perfect time, as I’ve been sitting here in the wee hours, thinking this book I’ve been working on forever will never come together. I see the tree. Thanks again. Peace, Michael.
Love the tree metaphor, Steven. Hate the fact that the more I research the more the tree grows the more the shadow/Resistance grows…
Thank you dear Steve.
I’m following Peter’s example -thank you Peter.
So these are my Present Manifestations of Resistance: (1) there is zero motivational energy towards working on the book, although there is only one more mid piece of action and thought and it’ll be all in place, (2) I am tired because I managed these weeks to do something I like too much, but it devours my night time sleep and I can’t control it and (3) from loosing sleep I lose ballances, which creates a vicious circle that is almost totally invisible but as destructive as it is invisible
These 3. Nothing else. The annoying all-knowing-sprite inside me whispers what I must do.
*Why, why do you whisper little goblin? Why don’t you shout out on me every sec, every hour this crucial thing? Why do you stop me, with your minimal whispers, from going to the Elysian Fields instead or rotting in this indifferent, matterless Hades?*
Thank you
Wonderful message today. Viewing Resistance in a positive light is powerful.
Thank you.