The Psychology of Self-Sabotage and Resistance

Callings to higher self and the determination needed

Introduction: personal experience of failing to achieve ideals or goals due to the resistance

At certain times in life we experience a calling from our higher self, urging us to move in the
direction of a more noble life. While this vision for achievements may supply us with temporary
inspiration, we rarely obey its orders for long. Instead, we sink back into our habitual ways and live
in obedience to our base desires, apathy, and cynicism.

Problem – lack of ambition

Many people do not heed the call from their higher self because deep down they know just how
difficult answering such a call would be. In the words of Nietzsche, “they fear their higher self
because, when it speaks, it speaks demandingly” (Nietzsche, Human, all too Human) They desire the
fruits of success, confidence, and courage, but they are unwilling to undergo the discipline and pain
needed to attain these fruits. What such individuals lack in this situation is ambition. Without
kindling what the poet Holderlin called “the sacred fire within”, few would be willing to undergo the
Herculean task of effecting positive self-change.

Resistance opposes our effort to heed to our callings

Problem - Resistance

A lack of ambition, however, is not the only thing holding us back. Times arise when we not only
desire for betterment, but are also willing to put in the hard work and discipline needed to achieve
it. Yet for some reason, we just can’t make any progress. We feel a strong pull from our higher self to
acheivements, but we feel a stronger pull in the opposite direction to inaction. Steven Pressfield
called this inner opposition Resistance, and warned that it is the greatest enemy we will ever face.

Resistance is a set of psychobehavioral habits and patterns that prevent us from responding to the
call of our higher self. Resistance manifests as excuses, rationalizations, fears, apathy, depression,
anxiety, procrastination, and the tendency to self-medicate. Resistance is the what opposes our
movement from a lower to a higher state of being. Until we learn to transcend it, mediocrity will be
our fate.

Universality of resistance

Solution: Accept its existence

To overcome resistance and our tendency for self-sabotage, we must not dismiss or deny its
existence. In fact, one of its defining feature is it’s the universality. Whenever we create excuses to
justify our monotonous way of life or allow apathy to determine our days, we are engaging in the
universal and inherent tendencies among all, even the most successful among us. It is not possible to
eliminate resistance from our lives; instead, we must accept it as a part of human nature and learn
to go on despite its presence.

Solution: Understand its different froms

Projection

Resistance assumes many forms and changes so often, and most of the time we are unaware of the
ways it is opposing us. A particularly harmful form ofthe Resistance is the projection of our internal
Resistance onto people and situations. We then play the victim-role and blame those close to us, our
job, society, the state of the world, or even Fate, for our mediocrity and misery. Projection is so
damaging because it not only prevents us from taking the needed responsibility for our life, but it
also harms our relationships with those close to us.

Fear

While projection is certainly a dangerous form of Resistance, the most powerful manifestation
comes in the form of fear. Fear in response to something potentially harmful is a natural and healthy
response, but we do not only fear that which poses a threat to us, but also that which is our highest
good.

Call for action: utilizing fear

Understanding and utilizing fear

To live in the service of such a calling is to center our lives around a form of productive work that we
find challenging and rewarding. The more scared we are of a job or calling, the more certain we can
be that we must do it. With this knowledge, we may harness our fear and allow it to drive us in the
path of our best potential. What you fear foreshadows what you crave.

Call for action: continual effort needed

Continual effort needed to achieve our callings

Once we’ve identified the type of productive work that's best for us, there's only one thing left to do:
start taking action every day to center our lives around the calling. We can be certain that Resistance
will be with us every step of the way, and, like the Sirens of Odysseus, it will try to seduce and lure us
away from our life-mission in enticing and enchanting ways. But, just as Odysseus was able to defeat
the Sirens by having his sailors stick bee wax in their ears and tie himself to his ship's mast, we can
reject the temptations of Resistance. The ability to master Resistance, day in and day out, is what
differentiates those who have “turned pro” in their respective fields, from those who are forever
doomed to remain nothing but “amateurs”.

Turning pro is like kicking a drug habit or stopping drinking. It’s a decision, a decision to which we
must re-commit every day. Each day, the professional understands, he will wake up facing the same
demons, the same Resistance, the same self-sabotage…The difference is that now he will not yield to
those temptations. He will have mastered them, and he will continue to master them.
 The Psychology of Self-Sabotage and Resistance
Introduction
Personal Experience/
Common experience/
General situation:
Failing to achieve ideals
or goals due to the
resistance
Problem 1:
Lack of ambition
Problem 2
Resistance
Solution:
Universality of resistance:
Accept its existence
Solution:
Types of resistance:
Understanding differmt
forms of resistance
Callings to higher self and the determination needed
At certain times in life we experience a calling from our higher self,
urging us to make a move towards worthwhile goal. While these
kinds of impulse may supply us with temporary inspiration, we rarely
follow through. Instead, we sink back into our habitual ways and live
our old life of apathy and cynicism.
Many people do not heed the call from their higher self because deep
down they know just how it would be to pursue such goals. They
desire the fruits of success, confidence, and courage, but they are
unwilling to undergo the discipline and pain needed to attain these
fruits. What one lacks in this situation is ambition. Without kindling
of “the sacred fire within”, few would be willing to undergo the
Herculean task of effecting positive self-change.
Resistance
A lack of ambition, however, is not the only thing holding us back.
Times arise when we not only desire for betterment, but are also
willing to put in the hard work and discipline needed to achieve it. Yet
for some reason, we still cannot make any progress. There are some
psychobehavioral habits and patterns that prevent us from
responding to the call of our higher self. This is the resistance.
Resistance manifests as excuses, rationalizations, fears, apathy,
depression, anxiety and procrastination. Until we learn to transcend
it, mediocrity will be our fate.
To overcome resistance and our tendency for self-sabotage, we
must not dismiss or deny its existence. In fact, one of its defining
feature is it’s the universality. Whenever we create excuses to justify
our monotonous way of life or allow apathy to determine our days,
we are engaging in the universal and inherent tendencies among all,
even the most successful among us. It is not possible to eliminate
resistance from our lives; instead, we must accept it as a part of
human nature and learn to go on despite its presence.
Projection
Resistance assumes many forms, and being aware of the ways it is
opposing us could help us overcome it. A particularly harmful form
of the Resistance is the projection of our internal Resistance onto
people and situations. We then play the victim-role and blame those
close to us, our job, society, the state of the world, or even Fate, for
our mediocrity and misery. Projection is so damaging because it not
only prevents us from taking the needed responsibility for our life,
but it also harms our relationships with those close to us.
Fear
While projection is certainly a dangerous form of Resistance, the
 most powerful manifestation comes in the form of fear. Fear in
response to something potentially harmful is a natural and healthy
response, but we do not only fear that which poses a threat to us, but
also that which is our highest good.

Call for action: To rise to the calling is to center our lives around a form of productive
continual effort needed work that we find challenging and rewarding. The more scared we
are of a job or calling, the more certain we can be that we must do
it. What we fear often foreshadows what we crave. With this
knowledge, we may harness our fear and allow it to drive us in the
path of our best potential.

Once we’ve identified the type of productive work that's best for us,
there's only one thing left to do: start taking action every day to
center our lives around the calling. We can be certain that Resistance
will be with us every step of the way, and, like the Sirens of Odysseus,
it will try to seduce and lure us away from our life-mission in enticing
and enchanting ways. But, just as Odysseus was able to defeat the
Sirens by having his sailors stick bee wax in their ears and tie himself
to his ship's mast, we can reject the temptations of Resistance.

The ability to master Resistance, day in and day out, is what

differentiates those who have “turned pro” in their respective fields,
from those who are forever doomed to remain nothing but
“amateurs”.

Turning pro is like kicking a drug habit or stopping drinking. It’s a

decision, a decision to which we must re-commit every day. Each
day, the professional understands, he will wake up facing the same
demons, the same Resistance, the same self-sabotage…The
difference is that now he will not yield to those temptations. He will
have mastered them, and he will continue to master them. That is
the only way to achieve self actualisation.