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If you've ever felt 'stuck' even though you really want to power into your newly defined goals, then by understanding 'fully' what is meant by mental resistance, might help you gain momentum.
Iain explains mental strength as the ability to make things happen.
Mental Resistance are the forces that slow you down, make you freeze, run a mile, or exert a tremendous force. He mentions his 3 'f's Flight, Fight, or Freeze. Each one serves a purpose and most definitely served a purpose with Ancient Man.
A physical force can make you stronger. Weight-training is one of the best analogies to explain this. A weight is lifted for a maximum of 10 lifts. Eventually more lifts can be achieved as the muscles adapt. At a given point its worth increasing the weight to bring it back down to 8 lifts, depending on the end goal. In this case increased strength is the goal.
The feeling of apprehension, procrastination, fear, fogginess, etc, summed up as an internal resistance to a given project or task, is our mental resistance.
Iain suggests that we can read these feelings and determine whether there is the correct amount of 'mental resistance' to increase our mental strength.
Our ancient system of flight, fight or freeze does not always serve us perfectly in our modern world of interactions and business. Understanding that our emotions have 'over-reacted' to a given goal, helps us re-frame these feelings. We now can realise that these feelings are by and large. over-reactions. We won't be able to remove them but we can begin by not letting them prevent us dealing with our goals and moving forward. In fact we can embrace these feelings and say 'Great! This task is a challenge. My feelings tell me I might struggle with this. If I get through this task I will become mentally stronger as a result.'
For example, lets say you have an interview near London. A place you've never been before. The first drive there is nerve-wrecking because there is a lot at stake. Plus you not even sure you know how to get there, yet alone be on time. But you do get there. You get the job. On the 5th drive up to your new job, the trip up there doesn't even cause a ripple in your belly because you've learnt the trip. You have gained mental strength from this experience. The job itself challenges you. Will you make the 3 month probationary period? Eventually you get past the 3 months and you are sailing in your job. You have gained mental strength in that job. The skills can be taken elsewhere.
What can happen though is we get a bit comfortable. We become a bit too secure. We eventually lose our edge to dare step up and challenge ourselves to the next step. Our mental strength begins to slide because we've not continued to apply new challenges to get even stronger.
Understanding about 'mental resistance' can help us agree to select new challenges to take us forward. Removing the bogey of stomach churning emotions, we can read ourselves objectively. Like a submarine radar technician. Listening for the pings.
The book reveals how we can select realistic, next step challenges. If its too big we'll fail miserably. If its too easy we haven't really grown stronger, mentally.
Also I found the book enabled me to read my personal situation accurately. Put my next goals up for action. Determine how realistic they are, understand my fears and my procrastination and where that comes from.
I love personal challenges. Improving myself as a business person is a challenge I've given myself in my forties. Mental challenges don't need the physical peak of Usain Bolt. In the second half of your life use your maturity to make your own success. There are no age limits to mental strength.
I work best with Logic. This book to me is logical. I've not been moving forward lately because I've had no understanding of the 'over-reaction' of my uncomfortable feelings. By re-framing those feelings to 'signals' that I've chosen a worthy goal because its made my belly sing with apprehension, removes the survival decisions and can make logical, calculated ones instead.
I also identified with Iain as I have also gained insight from being a Teacher of Tai Chi.
Producer of Beginner Tai Chi [DVD]
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