Here's the thing...

When your brain stops you from doing something

It doesn’t tell you that it is or give you a reason

For example, if self-image is the culprit

Your mind won't say

“Hey, this goal of yours might threaten our self-image so I can’t let you do it”

Nope...

In action manifests other ways

Your brain uses manipulative tricks

To keep you from taking action

And it has many tricks up it’s sleeves

To keep you from doing so

To understand what I mean by "tricks"

I’m going to share a powerful story

Several years ago

I heard a woman in South Africa

Give a speech about her journey of addiction

She described a pattern addicts fall into

That she herself fell into

She said...

Many addicts know what they're doing is wrong

When they're searching for the next hit

A part of them knows they should stop

But a sneaky trick keeps them from stopping

They say…

After the next hit

I’ll stop

After the next one

I’ll stop.

I just need to do it one more time

But after, I’ll stop

Here is the thing…

They keep saying this

When they say it

They’re convinced it’ll only be one more time

Absolutely convinced

They truly believe after the next one they'll stop

I bring this up

Because I know

You’re doing this in your life

Anytime a reminder comes up to do something

In that moment

Avoice surfaces that says

- I’ll do it later

- I’ll do it tomorrow

- I’ll do it this weekend

- I’ll do it next week

- I’ll do it next time

When you say it...

You’re convinced you’ll do it later or next time

Absolutely convinced!

But when the "later" or "next" arrives

You push it off to the next

And next

And the one after that

And you'll do it for months and years

This is one of the tricks of resistance

It makes you keep putting things off

Some people have been saying later or next their entire life

Every time they say it, they're sure they will start later or next time

But they never do

Though...

This is just one trick of your resistance

There are many more, including:

A. Overwhelm

Have you ever procrastinated on something

That you thought was bigger and more difficult

Than it really was

But after starting

You realized it wasn’t as bad as it seemed?

Well...

That's a trick your brain uses

Because as long as you feel overwhelmed

You don't start

B. Bottle Neck

Have you ever told yourself

You'll start working out

Once you sign up for a gym membership

Then you waited months and years to sign-up?

That's another trick

Your brain keeps you from doing something small

To create a bottle neck to the bigger actions

C. Feel Superior

Have you ever had someone give you advice

But you said

"Nay, I don’t need that"

"I got this"

Or have other feelings of being too good?

As long as you feel too good

You don’t want to do the thing

And your resistance wins yet again!