DTHT Episode 1 - How To Resist Resistance
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Podcast Opening:
Welcome to Do The Hard Thing Episode 1. I am Jason Archer… creator, freedom seeker and leader of self | full time student and part time teacher of self mastery, and today’s theme is “How To Resist Resistance”…
So, turn up the volume, put down the distractions and let’s kick this off…
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Summary Description:
Have you ever started a project that you felt held a great deal of meaning for you, and then for whatever reason you could not move toward the outcome you wanted to create. Whether it was a Mental, Physical, or Spiritual target you sought, it didn’t matter… there was some part of you who refused to move. This podcast is born out of that specific idea. Do The Hard Thing is an exploration in human movement.
Podcast Content:
When i finished recording the first episode… the zero episode, I had this thought run through my mind that was something along the lines of, “It’s all downhill from here!”… like all my issues with getting started and rolling on this project were over.
We’ll… and here’s your spoiler alert: They weren’t. Not even close.
My commitment, at least initially, is to create a new podcast and have it ready in advance each Monday for syndication… So I thought to myself, you know… I’ll have plenty of time to create content and plenty of time to come up with ideas that can truly be useful… And however true that was, it didn’t work out that way for me this week. This first crucial week. The week that would determine if I make or miss my target for consistency.
Because If this content doesn’t go out today, I start off with a fail by not meeting the very time frame I set up for myself.
That may sound a little cliche, however the reality of holding myself accountable is one I strive to live in… I understand, that the commitments I make to myself are almost always the most difficult ones to keep. The go unseen and unheard by others and it creates an easy out if you miss, because after all who’s really gonna know?
Well now, you guys all know… My commitment is public and if you show up here Monday and there is no fresh content, you’ll know I fucked up… and, what’s worse is I’ll know that you’ll know I fucked up. And, because my dark side hates looking bad, by creating this public commitment I am gaining leverage over myself. (And, I’ll talk more about this concept in another episode.)
So like I was saying I thought my troubles were over after the initial launch, however life started to happen this week. Resistance popped up and reared his ugly head like it always does… It started to present me with all kinds of excuses and reasons to let myself off the hook, which took the form of:
- You know your traveling this week, right? You’ve got to lug all your stuff to Calgary with you on a plane and setup shop in a makeshift office in your brother in laws house. You probably won’t be comfortable there. Definitely not as comfortable as you are in Phoenix with everything setup the way you like.
- Plus, you still have to answer calls for the gym… respond to calls and emails from prospects… this isn’t a vacation… you know your numbers are not where they need to be.
- You’re not going to have the time because you really should devote that to the Queen while you’re here.
- Oh and BTW, you have that fertility clinic appointment on Monday where you have to go jerk off in a cup… just so the socialist asshats in medicine there will see your wife who is in so much pain she can barely walk while waiting to go through this sham of medical system even though she’s paid hundreds of thousands of dollars into this system and she can’t even get seen or served because I have to do some completely unrelated task in order for the doc to check a box.
- Then there’s the never ending real estate drama, the 3 months of waiting for a bank to tick another box on a short sale we want to buy, and they keep stalling and stalling meanwhile our window of opportunity is closing, and the agent can not or will not do anything to speed up the process so we can have some certainty as my wife moves from Calgary down to the states.
At this point, I’m sure you can feel it… The overwhelm is starting to grab on to me. I can feel myself getting heavier and my mind starts to wander rather than remain focused on the tasks at hand.
Finally, my mind starts to take me into comparison sickness. “Look at all the other people out there who’ve done and are doing what you want to do… You’ll never measure up. Who are you to put out content? What, do you think you’ll be the next Joe Rogan or Adam Corolla? Never. Gonna. Happen. You should just quit now before you get yourself hurt.”
That’s what it all comes down to, yea? Your brain is doing all this to “protect” you… Evolutionary biology tells us that when our ancestors put themselves out there, or took too many risks… They stood a good chance of being dinner for a larger, faster, predator.
Of course, this is not reality in the modern world. That phone call you know you need to make, or that relationship you want to mend, or that business you want to start is not going to result in your death. Intellectually, you know this… but your physiology and biology haven’t caught up to your desire to expand your life in one form or another.
It just hasn’t… and it’s not going to tomorrow.
You have to resist resistance to move on your targets. And you do that by changing your relationship with resistance. You choose to recognize that when resistance shows up for you, it doesn’t mean death and destruction… it simply means you are about to get uncomfortable for a while. And, in this moment you will know you are expanding your life because you have to. You will not live in discomfort for longer than you are willing.
If the thing you want is too uncomfortable, you will quit… and, there is your lesson. Your bar for what it means to be “too uncomfortable” to ask for that raise, to ask that hot chick out, to start that business, to fully commit yourself to an enterprise will determine where you end up. If you value your comfort over your results, you will remain small. You will never have the things you really want.
The flip side is you play bigger. You take a few risks. You move out of comfort into a new way of being… and when you change your being-ness only then will anything change for you.
Podcast Closing:
That’s it for today! Thank you for listening, and if you found value in this message be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Google, Castbox, or Stitcher | Share this with those you know need to hear it on social | And I’ll see you back here in the next episode | This is Jason Archer signing off | Now… go, and DO THE HARD THING.