If you haven’t read the book, “War of Art,” by Steven Pressfield, buy it and read it today. It does the best job of explaining the forces of self sabotage. The reasons why you don’t succeed. And the power behind the comfort zone. Pressfield, the author of “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” writes that we have a forces within us called the resistance. It’s tied to our lizard brain (the most ancient part of our brain stem that runs our automatic responses) and it is what causes us to procrastinate and not perform.
I’ve spent my whole life battling the resistance. And most days, it gets the best of me.
It almost did this morning. I did not want to run. I was tired. I was warm. I was too busy.
But I knew that if I did not run, all the bad things in my life would overwhelm me like a tsunami.
So I left the house 15 minutes late. But I left the house. I ran on a terribly cold morning and managed to squeeze in 5.25 miles.
Thank God I did.
I walked in the door and found out I had to take my dog to the vet. An already crazy day just headed downhill. It was a shock I would not have handled if I had not fortified my mind with endorphins from running.
One thing never gets to me. But when there are several — well, that is when I start faltering.
The resistance gave me every excuse not to run. But somewhere in me I had enough of a reserve to resist it.
Read “Art of War.” It’s a short book. But it helps explain some of the factors that keep you in bed when you should be out exercising. And it will help you be victorious over the resistance.
Is it “Art of War” or “War of Art?”
War of Art.