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amounts of caffeine (as opposed to the usual amounts), and wishing that the Mayans had perhaps been right after all (see you already forgot the world was supposed to end last year).
“‘What!” I hear you cry in horror, “The great super-Zach, the saviour of our Thursday (and sometimes Friday) morning dullness suffers from the same malady as the rest of us poor mortals.”
Sadly, ladies and gentlemen, this is true. Zach daily battles the malady of futility that threatens to encroach on our lives and drive away any shred of goodness.
Let me explain why.
In each of us there resides a portion of our brain that has the sole purpose of making us remain the same.
It keeps us safe, secure, and in the most part, boring. It hides by various names in the literature of popular psychology; the subconscious, the resistance, the lizard brain.
Last year I produced a series on “The Grey”, the dull, monotonous people in the grip of the substandard.
The substandard is a work of this part of the brain. My favourite term for this self-sabotaging piece of neurochemical activity is “The Resistance”.
I cannot tell you where it came from, or how it developed. Evolutionary theory places it as part of the reptilian brain that exists to preserve life in nearly all sentient species. I can tell you what it does though. It acts to preserve the status quo in your life.
At a basic level it keeps you from making the sort of decisions that will keep you from forgetting to breathe.
You fear lightning — the resistance stopping you from becoming a well-fried chunk of flesh. You avoid dark alleys — the resistance keeping you from getting a knife in your back.
It is not all bad if left to basic preservation tactics.
This, however, is not where it ends. Humans can be hurt by more than just electricity and sharp objects.
Words, criticism, failure, rejection, disapproval all produce a negative effect on us, harming our soul and psyche.
The resistance will act to prevent this too. Not just outright, obvious rejection but the very possibility of it will drive your brain into a frenzy of counter productive activity.
Here is where the resistance starts to become detrimental. Trying something new or untested opens you to the very real chance that you will fail. Raising your hand to suggest an idea means that your opinion may be shot down in spectacular flames.
So rather than risk this pain, the resistance acts to prevent it from happening.
Sometimes subtly by inducing lethargy, sometimes overtly by screaming large thoughts into your brain works to stop you progressing.
Have you ever been in a situation where you are about to start something new and exciting yet at the last minute you remember a million things that you need to do and put off starting the original task.
The remembering of the other things is the creativity of the resistance. Talking yourself out of a plan is the resistance at work.
It just wants you to be the same. Each of us has developed a mental picture of how we are. You know that you are clumsy, so the resistance will keep you that way. You know you are not clever so the resistance will keep persuading you that you are not good enough.
You know you are poor so the resistance will keep you spending any extra money. The resistance is the reason you won’t start writing a book, and when you write it, will stop you seeking out a publisher.
It is the reason you won’t step out and start the company even though your business plan is solid and successful.
It stops you buying the better car because it is above your station. It keeps you in the painful boring job because it is a safe place and you need the money. It dominates your whole life if you let it.
You can try fighting it but it is part of you. You will never get rid of it, but you can lessen its effects. The first step is to realise its very existence.
Exposing it for what it is and the ridiculousness it can generate is step number one. If it can hide then it can continue the work it has always done.
Do not underestimate it, the resistance is the very part of your brain that will get you thinking “what a load of hogwash” as you read this article.
If you do not believe in it then there is no reason for you to change.
Recognising it takes away an excuse for your failure to move forward.
There are a few other things that you can do about it, but a really good one, after recognising it, is to embrace it.
Learn to use it as a barometer for potential success. The greater the risk, the louder it will scream and the more irrational the excuses you will generate (as opposed to perfectly rational ones like “please put on the parachute before jumping out the plane”).
Growing up I used to love hunting for plover’s nests. The plover, a bird that nests on the ground, will attack you as you approach its eggs in an effort to force you to leave.
The trick was to keep walking in the direction where the attacks grew stronger for that was the direction that the prize was to be found.
Same with the resistance, when it screams loud you know you are creating great art and great work.
Let it scream, just don’t let it stop you.
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