In today’s Coaching Log I’d like to talk about how Resistance is Futile. Sure it’s a nerd quote from Star Trek, but it’s true. Your mind is your most powerful ally or your worst enemy.
This can come into play in the gym, at work, in hobbies or anyplace in life.
We can have a winning mindset, as I wrote about in The 7 C’s of the Winning Mind : Dominate Any Challenge a few years ago, or we can sabotage ourselves. I strongly suggest you read the linked article.
As I prepped for this article I had too many examples of how this concept applies. I settled on one example to illustrate what I mean.
When we are resistant to an idea, an objective or a goal, the likelihood of success is near zero.
This can be as you go into a big lift and doubt yourself, it can be learning a new skill, or a task your boss gave you at work (or a thousand other scenarios.) If you doubt your ability to succeed there is a huge chance you will fail.
You’ve got to have confidence in yourself and your ability. I mean confidence, not bravado. If you are a 500 pound squatter and you’ve prepped for a max attempt, and you chose it wisely, HAVE CONFIDENCE. Tell yourself you can do it.
Choose a reasonable goal, say 510 for your first attempt. Believe you can do it and you probably will. This is confidence, not bravado.
If you choose a 600 pound attempt, and you are confident, you’ll probably miss because that is bravado and a bad choice. See the difference?
Let’s get into my Resistance is Futile example and how not to be your own worst enemy.
I’ll use a student in school as an example struggling with a class and a difficult teacher. I base this off a conversation I had recently.
Let’s begin with the fact that we all have responsibilities, and a student’s responsibility is to pass the class.
OK, back on track. The student in question does not mesh with the teacher, the teaching style and is having trouble. They have asked for help and got nothing but you are not applying yourself from the teacher.
Some will just give up and fail.
That is not a winning mindset.
That is a place where resistance to the task is preventing success. And it doesn’t matter what the topic is.
If you are resistant to success you will not achieve it.
A different option for this student would be to get on Google and do some research on how to learn in a difficult environment, how to master this subject or task and then apply more effort on their own. They need to be resourceful, and so do you.
If it were me, and I’ve been there, it is where spite would come in to play. Spite is not always bad. It can be a useful tool for success. So, if it were me, I’d use my stubborn nature and tendency to be spiteful in the face of opposition and learn everything I can to not only pass the class, but to ace it. In spite of the teacher failing me.
This is a never quit attitude, and when used properly, it can lead to success.
If we succumb to our mind telling us “Resistance is Futile, just give up”, the chance of success is ZERO. But, if we tell that voice in our head to shut up, I can do this”, the chance of success is astoundingly higher.
When you succumb to the negative and tell yourself “I can’t do this” you have let your mind win and become your own worst enemy.
If you tell your mind to settle down, do some deep breathing and develop a plan to succeed and tell yourself “I can do this”, you have now created a winning mindset.
The power of your mindset can not be overrated. There are countless stories of people faced with unwinnable odds at countless varied tasks and situations who overcame and won.
At no point did anyone in a situation like this say Resistance is Futile. On the contrary, they had to have had a winning mindset and figure out how to succeed.
Using the student as an example, in today’s world, it isn’t difficult to be resourceful when necessary. We all have supercomputers in our hands with access to search engines and we can find high quality information on how to do anything.
All you have to do is not quit. Effort equals results.
Tell yourself that you can succeed and never be your own worst enemy.
We tagged this with Resistance if Futile, but the true meaning of this log is that Resistance is Necessary. But the resistance must be to failure. Strive to win and know that you can.
Never let someone tell you that you can’t.
Did you miss last week’s log?
Read it here.
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Vincere vel mori
C.J. Murphy
January 12, 2023
