The Science of Resistance
Thank you for being here today! I am committed to living the life of my dreams through understanding the world more and I love finding others who are doing the same. One of the most difficult things when it comes to change is the resistance. Once I realized the science of resistance, and remembered this when I felt that resistance in action, my ability to make progress toward my goals skyrocketed.
With a career in aerospace engineering, I am always seeking the scientific connections between how the natural world works and how our lives work. Not surprisingly, the laws are identical. When I realized this particular parallel that I will explain today, it created a shift in perspective that really allowed me to make more significant progress faster.
This parallel is between change in the physical world and change in our mental world. If you’ve seen my other videos, you may already know that in the physical world we study the movement of objects. And in our lives, our mental worlds, the equivalent of an object is a thought. Without even getting into the equations today, let’s just look at the process.
A great example we’ll use today is when a tennis ball bounces off a wall. I’ve included a link to a great video below that shows this process in slow motion and I encourage you to watch it. Let’s look at this process from the perspective of the tennis ball. The ball is moving toward the wall, and we want it to go the opposite way. What actually happens is that the momentum of the ball transfers into the wall, and the wall pushes back with a force, which then transfers into a new motion going the opposite way. In that period of time, the ball is experiencing a huge force – and if you look at that video you see that the balls goes through this huge deformation during that time. Although it is a split second, it is a big change for the ball.
So how does this apply to us? Remember that the ball represents our thoughts. Think of a habit you are trying to change. We’ll use the example of waking up in the morning to meditate or exercise. Right now, you are the ball traveling toward the wall, and at that moment when your alarm goes off earlier than you are used to, this is when you start your encounter with the wall. Resistance looks like the ideas that are trying to convince you not to do it, trying to convince you to stay with what you were doing – keep the old momentum going.
The mistake that many of us make in this moment is that we entertain the thoughts. We engage with the idea that “skipping this one day won’t matter” or “this really isn’t going to help me with that wellness goal I have even though all the research is clear.” Instead, taking action in the direction we desire – actually sitting up in bed, this will start turning the force of the wall into momentum going in the new direction. The longer you avoid action and engage in an argument with your current habits, the worse this period will feel. That is the first thing to remember.
The second thing to remember, which also made a difference to me, is that there is no change without resistance in the physical world. Relax around it. Resistance in itself can be a little stressful, so don’t add stress in your misinterpretation that it’s wrong. Here is a truth – whenever you go about change, you will feel resistance. It is a law of science, and I think we’ve all worked with change enough in our own lives to see that it is a law of life.
So today, remember these two things – expect resistance when you are working toward something new, and decide not to engage in those thoughts that try to rationalize your old habits – decide instead to make small steps that gain momentum in the direction of your goals.
You can definitely do this and it helps to know we are all in the same boat! Please let me know how things are going for you, and what changes you are currently working on. The support of others and putting our goals out there can add lots of helpful momentum.
Link to slow motion tennis ball video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGsntCznhcY