I used to hate physics

I’m not in the mood to bore you with a lecture today

Remember when you signed up and I told you you’ll either leave educated, inspired, or refreshed?

Today is refreshment sunday

But what should I write about?

I’m no comedian and i can’t spend an hour watching mr bean, i need to publish this letter before the needle touches 12

Ummm, an incident? that one time when i failed at maths but added an extra digit on my result card? nahh

So a story? yes. yes. a story.

I was sitting on my sofa this morning, staring at my screen, knowing i needed to write a newsletter that i’ve been putting off for days

The deadline was tonight.

And what did I do?

I remembered I needed to read an article I saved yesterday. Urgently. Like world peace depended on it.

I used to hate physics, (i still do), but if you understand and keep the concept i’m about to explain at the front of your mind, it will save your life.

In physics, resistance is what stops the flow of electric current.

In life, it's what stops the flow of your progress. That article? That's resistance.

Every excuse, justification, or reason you give yourself for not working on your goals is resistance.

They aren't real, and you almost always know it, but you fall for them because a part of you is convincing you to take it easy, do it later, you can't do it, do something else...

These are traps set by your lazy side to keep you comfortable, safe, and too busy to realize that your life isn't going in the direction you want.

The thing about resistance is it's so damn personal.

It knows exactly which buttons to push.

Like how it tells me "you need to wait till you come up with a unique idea" because it knows i don’t like to post something anyone can write

You know that voice that says "you're too tired right now, do it tomorrow when you're fresh"? Resistance.

That feeling that you need to watch one more tutorial before starting? Resistance.

The urge to clean your room when you sit down to work on something important? Super resistance.

It's embarrassing how often I, and you too, fall for these tricks.

Like this morning - I had an hour blocked off to write this newsletter.

What happened?

I remembered the article I saved which I wanted to read, which led to opening my saved folders, which led to removing unimportant articles, which somehow resulted in me reorganizing the folder based on their topics.

As I was organizing the folder, a part of me knew what was happening.

I could almost hear resistance laughing.

"Look at this idiot. He's organizing folders he'll never open again"

And that's the insidious part - we're almost always aware of resistance while it's happening but because it arrives as reasonable concerns, we fall for it

I want you to start playing a game with yourself.

When you find yourself avoiding something important, ask "is this resistance?"

Usually, the answer will be yes. And just recognizing it will take away most of its power.

So next time you find yourself organizing your folders instead of working on the thing that actually matters to you, pause, and tell yourself "this is exactly what Azan warned me of, I won’t fall for this stupid resistance."

Then do the thing.

Resistance never goes away. Not for anyone. Even people you admire who seem to have it all together - they are just better at pushing through resistance.

They feel the same fears and doubts.

Your success in life, in business, in your relationships, depend on your ability to identify and overcome resistance, every. single. time

It's 11:20 now, and I'm about to hit send on this newsletter.

Resistance tried to convince me it wasn't good enough, that I should sleep on it and come up with a better idea tomorrow. But we all know what would happen then.

So here it is, imperfectly done but finished.

Can you spot resistance in your life, that project? that business? that decision? that body?

If you find yourself thinking "I'll respond to that question later" - that's resistance too.

See how it works?