If you’re like me, no matter how many motivational books or blogs or whatever you read, it’s still not always easy to focus on what’s important. Whether it’s the urge to refresh your email inbox or the urge to turn on the television there’s always something that’s easier (or something your lizard brain wants you to think is more important) than what you should be doing. Of course, it’s up to you to decide what you should be doing, but that’s a conversation for another article. This article is about getting willpower!
Today I decided to make into my first ever “Resist the Resistance” day. Basically from the time I got up to the time I am going to bed (which is now right after I write this post) I will ignore or do the opposite of every urge I get. In doing this, my plan was to begin to train myself to have the willpower to ignore distraction and concentrate on the things I needed to get done today: meet a friend for coffee/lunch, take photos for my photo class, and work on my book.
Overall, the day was a success! It wasn’t perfect and I caught myself doing a few email refreshes, but I noticed as I did it and caught myself. I also managed to get all the things done that I wanted to with minimal distraction. But the key is to not let this be a one time deal. My real goal is to continue resisting the resistance until I have the willpower make every day a successful “Resist the Resistance” day. If you can do it once, you can do it again.
Why don’t you try it today?
Resist the resistance!
For an explanation of terms such as lizard brain and resistance see this article from Seth Godin’s Blog.
Also see this article about regaining your concentration in a digital world.
