This is from The War of Art, an extremely interesting book I just finished reading by Steven Pressfield. It took me, like a good book should, to the time where I was nervously thinking about doing something, anything to get out of my job in the retail business. Standing behind the sales counter, waiting for customers to walk though the doors to buy cell phones, I hated the all glass walls that made up the storefront. You could see the traffic passing by on the always busy Washtenaw Avenue in Ypsilanti / Ann Arbor area and I always said to myself, that this is not a car that is passing by the store, but my life passing by. Best years of my life, 25-30, working for almost nothing, 12-14 hour shifts and in the end nothing to show for all those days: no skills, no money, no happiness.
But my choices were limited and I just played the card I got dealt as best as I could. What amazes me are the folks surrounding me who apparently did not had to move 9,000 miles away, speak a different language, learn how to drive a car etc. but yet they still stand frozen in unhappiness and not getting their dreams started. I used to think it is fear. Fear of losing money. Fear of losing respect in front of your loved ones. Fear of giving up what is known to you in exchange of learning and doing new things ("What! Why do I need to learn about Facebook? I have business cards already.").
Here is something I recently did. I wrote down everything I used to be scared to do around five years ago. I mean shaking-like-a-leaf-what-if kind of fear. What is on that list is not important but you might be interested to know that I have done and still doing every single thing on that list. Not even one missed. Also every single item crossed off on that list has brought an increase in my income and net worth. That was strange to read.
I really did not get it how can this be till I read The War of Art. Pressfield writes that the fear we have is actually a lighthouse, a guide to what we should be doing, and preferably as quickly as possible because that is where our happiness is. Owning a business, doing real estate deals, writing a book, helping others achieve their dreams ahead of ours... whatever is the thing that scares us the most is our true calling. What you and I should be doing every day. Starting from today. Not tomorrow. Not the weekend. Today.
Pressfield begins with "There is a secret that real writers know and wannabe writers don't, and the secret is this: It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance."
How many times have you thought about starting a business, late at night when you just could not sleep even when your job was starting only a few hours away, only to put away that dream with the rising of the sun by telling yourself, "I will start looking into it by the weekend" or "Lets plan it and I will launch it once the recession starts to end." How many times did you think about investing in real estate, about actually picking up the phone and making an offer or going and meeting an REO broker and then said to yourself, " Lets wait till next week when my schedule is a little light." Or " I can't do it right now, my kids are too young. Once they grow up a little I will have more time to go and look at houses."
That little voice you keep hearing in your head. That is not logic. That is Resistance and it is out to get you and your dreams and kill them slowly with great precision. Resistance is not happy when you try to improve yourself or try to find happiness in what you want to do. What Resistance wants from you is you to do nothing and put away your dreams of owning your business, investing in real estate, finding pleasure in what you do to make money. Resistance wants you content outside and miserable inside. Resistance wants you stay in the job you hate, making the money you know in your heart is nothing to what you are truly worth, doing things you don't care about anymore. You are not letting Resistance win in 2010... are you?
