{"id":221705,"date":"2023-10-19T07:00:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T11:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/?p=221705"},"modified":"2023-10-21T15:22:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-21T19:22:37","slug":"a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/","title":{"rendered":"A 30 second tactic for overcoming mental resistance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Takeaway: <\/b>When you\u2019re putting off doing something, shrink how long you\u2019ll do the task for until you feel less mental resistance to it. <\/span> Estimated Reading Time:<\/b> 1 minute, 21s.<\/div><\/div><\/p>\n

The other week, I shared my\u00a0resistance list<\/a>\u00a0ritual for tackling tasks I have a high resistance level with. This week, let me share a second, simple tactic for getting started on these tasks.<\/p>\n

Getting started is the challenging part. After all, once we get started on something, we have far less resistance to keep going. (Mental resistance lives at the beginning of the timeline of a task.)<\/p>\n

The tactic is simple:\u00a0shrink how long you\u2019ll do something until you no longer resist it.<\/strong>\u00a0(Apologies if you\u2019ve heard this idea before\u2014I write about it in\u00a0Hyperfocus<\/a>. Full credit to my friend and meditation teacher\u00a0Jon Krop<\/a>\u00a0for the tactic.)<\/p>\n

For example, let\u2019s say you\u2019re putting off creating an outline for a 100-page report you\u2019re writing. Just shrink the task. To do so, feel out your resistance level. For example:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I want to work on this for an hour? No way.. even the\u00a0thought<\/em>\u00a0of it puts me off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay.. what about 45 minutes? .. Still a nope.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c30? .. Getting warmer.. but still..\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c20 minutes? Yeah, I could do 20.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll feel a different amount of mental resistance to every task and project, depending on how aversive you find them. This is normal\u2014and this tactic accommodates whatever level of resistance you have.<\/p>\n

Give the technique a shot the next time you\u2019re putting something off\u2014whether it\u2019s something you need to get done or something on your\u00a0resistance list<\/a>. You may be surprised by how much progress you can make.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you can\u2019t beat mental resistance.. join it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":221706,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nA 30 second tactic for overcoming mental resistance - Chris Bailey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A 30 second tactic for overcoming mental resistance - Chris Bailey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you can\u2019t beat mental resistance.. join it.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Chris Bailey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-10-19T11:00:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-21T19:22:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aron-visuals-BXOXnQ26B7o-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Bailey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/chris_bailey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@chris_bailey\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Bailey\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52e99dd14925b1bfe8c1034b8d40ed70\"},\"headline\":\"A 30 second tactic for overcoming mental resistance\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-19T11:00:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-21T19:22:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/\"},\"wordCount\":295,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/#\/schema\/person\/52e99dd14925b1bfe8c1034b8d40ed70\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/eyi2a29pdc4.exactdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/aron-visuals-BXOXnQ26B7o-unsplash.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Productivity\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/chrisbailey.com\/a-30-second-tactic-for-overcoming-mental-resistance\/\",\"name\":\"A 30 second tactic for overcoming mental resistance - 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