Book 75 - A Year of Magical Learning

Reflection Title - Beating the Resistance is Easy if You Have a Real Why

Book -  The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield

Book Description: Think of The War of Art as tough love...for yourself. Since 2002, The War of Art has inspired people around the world to defeat "resistance"; to recognize and knock down dream-blocking barriers and to silence the naysayers within us. Resistance kicks everyone's butt, and the desire to defeat it is equally as universal. The War of Art identifies the enemy that every one of us must face, outlines a battle plan to conquer this internal foe, then pinpoints just how to achieve the greatest success.

Reflection:

It has been 607 days since I lost my daughter. It has also been 607 days straight where I've woken up every morning to write, read a book, and get a workout in before rushing off to do whatever seemingly urgent and important activities that need to be done everyday (work, errands, paying bills, etc).

If I could go back in time and tell myself, pre-Emilia, that I would read, write, and exercise for 607 straight days...I would have told my own self that is impossible. I would have said, "Surely, there has to be some days where you woke up and had some other activities that you had to do that kept you from making that happen? Like traveling for work, taking time off for a vacation, some unfortunate emergency happened, etc?". There is just no logical explanation that I could have found that would have made that seem possible in my mind at that time of my life. The "resistance" as Steven Pressfield writes about in this story surely would have broken me a few times a I'm not a robot.

Here's the secret and how I do it...I have a real why that drives every inch of my being these days that the Chris pre-Emilia didn't understand or have in his life. That why is that courageous daughter of mine that I watched exemplify the best in what humanity can be as I watched her endure and fight with everything she had for a chance at life in this world. I can't wake up any morning and not think about that memory of her epic battle which has been burned into my mind at this point.

On most days...keeping this streak going is easy as the rock solid habits I've built are almost just a part of me now. Somedays, like today (the day that I'm writing this) ironically is really hard and the resistance should beat me. It certainly would have beaten the old Chris before Emilia. I'm sitting in a hotel room after traveling for work and meeting my work team for the first time in person since COVID hit. We had a ton of fun (too much probably) yesterday and it was great to get together in person, enjoy a few great meals together, and have a few too many drinks. I'm out of my element today. I didn't sleep well, I'm tired from all the activities yesterday, probably a little hung over, I have to get some work done, and get to the airport to get home. It would be so easy to just tell myself, "It's okay Chris, take this day off." Then, I think about my daughter and all she endured in her life. She didn't ask for that pain and adversity that was thrust upon her from the moment she entered this world. She could have easily given up and said this is too much. She didn't. She fought. So I'm fighting.

I didn't want any of this. I just wanted my daughter. However, If this has to be my life, I'm going to do my best and honor her memory with everything I have. So I'm sitting here typing away at this tiny hotel desk, getting changed to head to the hotel gym, and will listen to my audio book while on the treadmill.

When you have a real why, beating the resistance is easy.

Question: How do you combat the resistance?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - The War of Art

YOML Bookstore - The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield