TL;DR: Resistance is the voice in your head telling you that you don’t have enough energy to complete a task. Combat it by acknowledging what’s holding you back, verbalizing your specific fears or uncertainties, and then systematically addressing each barrier. Without a boss to push you forward, developing the skill to work through resistance on your own becomes essential for completing projects and reaching your goals.
Are you feeling stuck?
Is there anything on your to-do list right now that you find yourself skipping over and over again?
Have you ever made it 90% through a project and stalled out right before it’s done?
Have you ever looked at the clock, realized it was time to get ready to leave for an event, and secretly wished that it would be canceled?
Have you ever been too tired to go to bed?
Welcome to every human’s nemesis – resistance.
What Is Resistance and Why Does It Stop You From Finishing Projects?
Every result we want requires us to jump over hurdles – usually a bunch of them. And there’s always a voice in our head trying to convince us that the energy we have at our disposal isn’t enough to get us over all of them.
The best inventors build things that reduce the number of hurdles between us and where we want to go, and that’s amazing, but no amount of progress is going to get rid of them all.
And we shouldn’t want it to, because pressing against resistance is what builds strength.
So how do we keep from walking off the track in the middle of a race?
How Do You Overcome Procrastination When You’re Self-Employed?
A good start: acknowledge the resistance and verbalize what it’s telling you.
“I’m not moving this project forward because I’m not sure what to do next and my brain is moving me towards things that are clearer.”
“I’m procrastinating because I am afraid that if I post this, I’ll get rejected.”
“I’m cleaning out my inbox instead of doing strategic planning because I’ve decided that I’m not good at strategic planning, and it will be hard.”
Once you know why your brain is trying to protect you, you can decide whether or not to listen to it.
What Steps Actually Help You Push Through Mental Blocks?
You can clarify what’s unclear. Make decisions where you need to. Process your fear. Question your assumptions.
If you’re reading this, you probably don’t have a boss. Bosses are often great about forcing you to do things you don’t want to do. Now, without a boss, you’ll need to sharpen the skill of pushing through resistance on your own.
What’s one thing you’re procrastinating about? How can you acknowledge and dismantle the resistance behind it?
Frequently Asked Questions About Overcoming Resistance
Q: Why do I procrastinate even on tasks I know are important?
A: Your brain is trying to protect you from perceived threats like failure, rejection, or difficulty. Procrastination is often a defense mechanism that moves you toward clearer, easier tasks. The key is to identify what specific fear or uncertainty is driving your avoidance, then address it directly rather than letting it control your behavior.
Q: What’s the difference between taking a break and avoiding resistance?
A: Taking a break involves intentional rest with a plan to return to the task. Avoiding resistance looks like chronic task-switching, completing 90% of projects without finishing, or hoping obligations will disappear. If you’re consistently choosing easier tasks over important ones, or feeling relief when commitments get canceled, you’re likely experiencing resistance.
Q: How can I tell if my reasons for not doing something are valid or just excuses?
A: Verbalize your reasoning out loud or write it down. Valid reasons typically involve genuine constraints like missing information, dependencies on others, or ethical concerns. Excuses often sound like “I’m not good at this,” “it might not work,” or “I’ll do it when I feel more ready.” If your reason is based on fear, perfectionism, or avoiding discomfort rather than actual barriers, it’s likely resistance talking.
Q: What should I do first when I’m stuck on a project?
A: Start by naming the specific hurdle stopping you. Ask yourself: “What exactly am I avoiding?” Then categorize it—do you need to clarify next steps, make a decision, gather information, or face a fear? Once you identify the actual barrier, you can take one small action to address it rather than avoiding the entire project.
Q: How do entrepreneurs stay motivated without a boss to hold them accountable?
A: Self-employed professionals need to develop internal accountability by building systems that replace external pressure. This includes setting clear deadlines, creating consequences for inaction, finding accountability partners, and most importantly, learning to recognize and name resistance when it appears. The skill of pushing through resistance without external force is one of the most valuable abilities for independent workers to develop.
“Our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project, or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.” – Steven Pressfield, “War of Art”
