Uphill Battles 🏔️

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I. Just Show Up.

Writing today feels like an uphill battle.

My brain doesn't seem to want to cooperate, and I couldn't get any traction on topics to write about, even though I keep a list of ideas for this purpose. It's frustrating when nothing seems to click.

Then, my inner critic starts chiming in with some "helpful" feedback…

"No one is going to read it anyway..."

"You've got nothing to write because you don't know what you're doing..."

"You should just give up and stop writing..."

Not very encouraging, right? This is what author Steven Pressfield calls the "resistance" – a universal force that aims to keep things as they are and will fight dirty to achieve its goal.

Writing is a tricky endeavour for me, but that's part of the challenge and what makes it appealing. The idea of "just keep showing up" comes to mind, but it's easier said than done when the resistance comes knocking.

There will be days when you won't feel like doing the work, and some days will require significantly more effort than others.

For me, it's about writing; for others, it could be something completely different. But either way, the resistance will do its best to keep you where you are – to keep you stagnant.

It will try to sweet talk, lie, bribe, and even insult you in its pursuit.

I'm not a fan of absolutes, but when it comes to resistance, you only have two options: start or don't start; either you win or it does.

I wasn't excited about winning, but I definitely didn't want to lose. So I had to start somewhere, in this case, opening my laptop and starting to write. The resistance was still there, but with a bit of momentum, the voice became a tad quieter. The first idea didn't work out, nor did the second, but here you are now, reading the third -- is it my best work? I doubt it, but I still turned up.

Over to you. - Who is going to win the day, you or the resistance?

II. One for the desk jockeys

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III. Quote to ponder

“The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications, and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.” Steven Pressfield

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P.S. If you enjoyed this week's Thursday Three, share it with a friend.

Thanks,

Jamie