We’ve been having a lot of conversations on resistance over here lately.
Resistance, rebellion, whatever you call it – those times you want to do something, said you’d do something, but don’t follow through.
This comes up a lot in the writing world.
Turns out resistance is a universal challenge for us writers.
This is one of the reasons I’m such a big proponent of accountability and support. When you know something’s important to you, why not build in the support you need to be successful?
When you’re writing memoir, resistance will arise at some point, I can promise you that. And getting the right support can make all the difference in moving you through.
Let me give you an example from my non-writing life.
I injured my hip a while back but was busy with so many other things that I kept putting physical therapy (PT) on the back burner. A couple of months ago, when my injury became too painful to ignore any longer, I finally started PT.
Identifying Your Why
Healing and strengthening my hip was important to me because I love to dance. For a while, I thought I could move through my injury on my own but when it became clear that wasn’t working, I finally set up a physical therapy appointment.
Now it’s your turn: Why is your writing project important to you? Taking the time to clarify your WHY can make all the difference in getting you moving.
Getting the Right Support
The first physical therapist I met with wasn’t the right fit. I wasn’t getting any better after a month, so I cut my losses and went back to the drawing board. I did more research this time, honing in on someone with a strong reputation who I thought would be a good fit for me.
Now it’s your turn: What kind of support works well for you? Do you need a class? If so, what kind of class? What kind of community?
Creating a Container
When I first met with my current PT, I was kind of hoping she’d give me a stack of exercises, send me home to do them and say come back in 6 months.
I knew that wouldn’t be the case but I’m a rebel at heart, and my life is pretty dang full at the moment, and a gal can hope. When she said she wanted to start with 8 weekly sessions, my heart sank. But dancing is hugely important to me, and I was tired of limping through my days, so I acknowledged my resistance, then went ahead and committed to PT for the following months.
Now it’s your turn: How can you create a container for your writing? How can you schedule dedicated writing time for yourself? How can you create simple starting and stopping rituals?
Creating Accountability
After my first 30-minute PT appointment, my therapist sent me off to a 30-minute appointment with a trainer. I wasn’t especially looking forward to a second 30 minutes, but the trainer walked me through the exercises, answered my questions, corrected my form and showed me ways I could further benefit from the exercises. That was a whole lot of additional value I wouldn’t have gotten on my own.
Plus, each appointment served as a weekly accountability check-in. When I wanted to bypass my daily PT exercises, knowing I had another appointment coming up helped keep me on track.
Now it’s your turn: What kind of accountability do you need to ensure you’ll show up for yourself? A class? An accountability buddy?
Keep Going
Sometimes we aren’t able to hit our goals as quickly as we’d like. I’m still working with my PT, making consistent progress.
Turns out there’s a lot I don’t know about rehabbing a hip and I needed an expert to help me through.
Now it’s your turn: What do you need to learn about memoir? About writing a book?
What this Means for Your Writing
If you’re in a place of resistance when it comes to your writing, I encourage you to reach out and find the support you need. Take a memoir class, hire a coach and find an accountability buddy.
Things that are hard on our own become much easier with the right support.
Now it’s your turn: What kind of accountability and support do you need to get moving on your memoir? What simple step can you take today?
Money Support
As I shared with you a few weeks back, I’ve been doing a deep dive into my money stuff the past year. For most of my life, I bought into the immigrant narrative around money (i.e.: there’s never enough, I’m not worthy, I have to work my ass off in order to survive). And don’t even get me started on the starving artist stuff. Let’s just say that making and managing money weren’t my strong suit.
Over the years, I’ve taken various money classes in an attempt to deal with my money stuff. But I still couldn’t break through my sticking points until I took a training with Kate Northrup last year. Her teachings clarified the missing pieces and taught me what I needed to know to move into a place of empowerment.
If you’re in a similar boat and are looking to create a stronger, more empowered relationship with your money, check out Kate’s upcoming free 3-day FLOW class: Cultivate A Healthy Relationship With Money & Attract Greater Abundance.
Kate’s money program helped me so much that I signed up to be an affiliate, which means I’ll earn a percentage if you decide to join her programs. However, the reason I’m sharing her with you is because her teachings were so friggin transformational for me. Just her free series alone will give you enough to make some big shifts, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Plus, her calls are really fun. I don’t know about you, but the older I get, it’s more and more important than anything else I add to my plate is FUN.
Your Turn
So tell me: how has resistance shown up in your writing life? What’s helped?
And what simple step are you going to take today to move the needle forward on your current creative project?
I’d love to hear from you!
Wishing you ease and flow,
Tanja
