Why does starting something you know is important sometimes feels like the hardest thing to do?

It’s because of what Steven Pressfield calls Resistance in his book The War of Art.

It’s the force that we all have in us as humans, that plays with our fears and tries everything to hold us back from getting closer to our dreams and anything that is actually important.

And I’m feeling it every day! It’s something we just have to deal with if we want to grow. That’s why it’s important to have tools in our arsenal to overcome Resistance.

I recently remembered this one advice from no other  than Herbie Hancock, which he said in reference to music, but you can apply to pretty much everything in life:

“When you sit down at a piano, you shouldn’t think about writing a song:  Just play the first note. Don’t overthink it, just stick your hand out and press a piano key.”

Most of the time you just have to trick yourself into starting—and then trust the process. 

And I find this so important that I even made it the slogan of PRESENT: Just get started.  (Which I find a little less intimidating than Just do it, but that’s for another time.)

So today, or even better right now, don’t overthink it and allow yourself to just play the first note, and see what happens. 

I believe in you! And I believe that despite everything life is throwing at you, you can be stronger than your Resistance.