Do you ever find yourself experiencing a wall of inner resistance or waning motivation in the midst of working towards achieving an important goal, improving an area of your life, or creating some type of outcome that you really want?
When that happens, do you tend to keep your eyes on the prize and continue persevering or, instead, do you take the path of least resistance and abandon your dreams?
If the latter, know that your subconscious mind has a tendency to revert back to what’s most familiar until programmed otherwise. Therefore, it’s understandable to find yourself initially excited about stepping into a greater version of yourself or finally doing that amazing thing you’ve dreamed of accomplishing… only to give up before seeing your dreams to fruition.
Goals: The Challenge with Uncertainty and the Unknown
When you set out to achieve a goal or transform an area of your life, the pathway from where you currently are to where you ultimately want to be will involve change and require consistent effort as well as a willingness to embrace the unfamiliar. All of which may bring about uncertainty, doubt, uncomfortableness, or even fear.
As a result, your ego self, which doesn’t like change and is far more comfortable playing small at the expense of your dreams, will go to great lengths to sabotage your efforts and avoid the unknown.
Combine this with old misaligned subconscious programming that your brain naturally defaults back to, and it’s easy to see why those walls of inner resistance build and your motivation starts to tank.
No matter how much you may want to achieve or manifest something into your life, resistance toward uncertainty and the unknown may occur. I’ve certainly experienced this when moving to another country, starting a business, or doing something outside my comfort zone. It’s okay if you have too.
Know that questioning, doubting, or thinking that maybe you should just give up on your goals and dreams is fairly common. The key to not getting derailed when this happens is to acknowledge how you are feeling, reconnect back to your compelling “why” in relation to your goal, and then empower yourself to utilize proven practices to get yourself back on track.
3 Ways to Knock Down Walls of Inner Resistance
Following are some helpful and proven techniques for overcoming resistance and staying on track with your goals that I personally use and recommend to clients:
- Document your compelling “why” in relation to your goal.
Get crystal clear and know exactly why you want to achieve your goal or improve an area of your life. Your compelling why should light you the heck up. Write down your why and keep it at the forefront throughout the process of achieving your goal. Use your why as your North Star and refer back to it to help keep you aligned, energized, and inspired. - Create a written reference of what you will gain by achieving your goal versus what you stand to lose by abandoning your goal.
In detail, write a list of all the ways you’ll benefit from accomplishing your goal and another list of all the ways you will rob yourself should you bail on your goal. Keep this reference sheet somewhere readily available as a source of motivation. - Use visualization to compare and contrast outcomes.
In detail, imagine your life one year from now after you’ve ditched your goal or let your dreams languish and die. Next, visualize in detail your life one year from now after victoriously achieving your goal. Which do you choose? If the latter, recommit yourself to your goal and go take another step closer toward what you desire.
Bringing It All Together
Encountering resistance when striving to improve your life or achieve your goals is a fairly common experience. Understanding that until you reprogram your subconscious mind to best support your specific desired outcomes, your brain will be inclined to default back to its old and ingrained ways of operating.
Being aware of this tendency and supporting yourself with proven tools and techniques that reduce unnecessary setbacks will help you to stay on track when it comes to successfully achieving your goals.
Plus, the more you equip yourself with a handy toolbox of tools for effectively navigating life, the more skilled you become at being the powerful creator of your reality!
