Take Action (With Anand Rao)

How do you feel about how much action you are taking towards your goals? 

For most of us, it’s often true that we would like to be taking more action, and also for it to be easier and more enjoyable, while we were doing so.

So, why then, if there are these goals and outcomes that we want, do we resist the actions that we would have to take to get us there? 

Over the next few days we’ll look at different aspects of action taking and how to make our lives easier, more streamlined, and how we can have more fun creating the lives we want. 

For today, let’s address (perhaps) the biggest topic when it comes to taking action…

Handling Resistance

How many programs and courses are out there to help you break through barriers, smash through resistance, overcome obstacles, defeat or destroy fear or something similar?

It certainly seems like there is some version of conflicting forces or opposition stopping you getting what you want … something to be fought and defeated and for you to win - because ‘it’s’ been winning until now.

And let’s say you succeed… notice that there is still a ‘background worldview’ being bought into and lived, which is that there are forces in the world and in you that seemingly are against you. Surely everyone knows that the world is a high competitive environment where it’s survival of the fittest, or “it’s a dog eat dog world out there” - if you take a break and rest, well then you’ll fall behind.

That certainly seems to be the case, doesn’t it?

However, even a simple analysis shows that this is not a very fun worldview or reality to live within, especially if the purpose of your goals, and especially if it’s to start and run your own business, is to create more freedom and joy in your life.

So where is all this resistance coming from?

The Key Insight…

Although it seems like it’s coming from the outside, it’s clear that we are the ones interpreting our world and then we react to our interpretations of the world, right? It’s why two people reporting on an accident, or two people at a party or two people reading a book can report a very different experience even though they were experiencing the exact same ‘external event’. 

We are living in a reality of our own making - no exceptions - 100%.

So, once you realise that the resistance you are experiencing is coming from you, then you can hopefully see that going to war with what you are perceiving is clearly very unwise and certainly won’t create peace in the long run.

For some people, landing this insight in your nervous system is enough to stop the war within and you can start befriending yourself, and begin to see how to live a more aligned and coherent and streamlined you taking action with more calm, centred, ‘undramatic’ doing, while things seem to just get done - what you may have heard is often called a flow state. 

Practical Follow Up

For those for whom this insight is not enough, there are various methods (for example, Integration of Parts in NLP, or EFT or processes called psycho-sensory methods) to help with this process of streamlining your inner world. This leads to more harmony, well being, and your ability to take more effortless action towards your goals.

At the very least...

If you realise that ‘fighting resistance’ often creates more resistance (we are literally resisting the fact that we are trying to forcibly make ourselves do things), then you might also see that sometimes we need to ease off, in order to move forwards more easily. This is very counter-intuitive as it comes from a more systemic view vs. the more simplistic, mechanical, Newtonian, cause-effect solutions we often try to employ to solve our problems!

There is a story, about Milton Erickson, the hypnotist, who observed some farm-hands trying to force a horse head first through a barn door, by pushing on it and it dug it’s heals in and stubbornly fought back. So, Milton told them to back off, and he gently pulled on the horse’s tail, and the horse resisted by moving away from him and into the barn.

I do like the story as it illustrates the point, but I would also say that it’s probably not a good idea to stand behind an angry horse! - and so consider, there is always another way!

Tomorrow and this week

Tomorrow we’ll look at Progress, and over the next few days we’ll cover other topics related to you being able to take action more and more easily towards your goals.

Resistance - wisely dealing with what gets in the way
Progress - how do you relate to the progress you are making?
Flow - what is a flow state and how do you get there?
Agency - finally taking back control over your life, without a fight!
Strategies - methods and processes to streamline your life.
Habits - how to think about setting up new good habits, and dropping old unhelpful habits
The Big Picture - other considerations and mindsets for action taking 

Keep an eye on your email this week for the rest of this email series.

Anand

Meet Anand Rao