“It’s extremely difficult to do something big. I think setting out to do something small is easier and more likely to work.”  Seth Godin

If you are reading this, I will assume that you writing a book or are thinking about writing a book.  What is holding you back?  What obstacle sits between you and a flow-like state where all is clear and the words come?

I believe the biggest obstacle is not outside of you.  I believe the biggest obstacle is inside of you.

Your anchor is dragging.  More power to the motor won’t help.  You must raise your anchor: The Resistance.

The Resistance

Stephen Pressfield says that our purpose lies behind what we most fear.  The book we are most scared to write is the book we should be writing.  If there is no fear related with the writing, it is probably not important.

Our ego is so determined to undermine us, that it will justify all forms of procrastination.  The excuses will be rational.  They will be true.  They will be well argued.  If we engage on their level, they will always win.  Seth Godin calls this The Resistance.  The closer we get to achieving our purpose, the louder the Resistance will rebel.

The Wisdom of Horses

Ranulph Fiennes  is the oldest British man to have climbed Everest.  He climbed it at his 3rd attempt when he was 65 years old.  What changed on his 3rd attempt?

Ranulph’s wife is a horse trainer.  When he was setting out on this last attempt, she said “do it like horses”.

Ranulph asked “what do you mean, do it like horses?”

His wife explained to him that a horse runs with no thought for the finish line.  A horse runs until it drops from exhaustion.  She told him to only ask himself “can I take one more step?” and if the answer is “yes”, take that one more step and repeat.  Don’t allow your mind to consider more than the next step.

Great endurance athletes have learnt this.  They have learnt to cheat their mind by refusing to allow it to think about the sheer scale of what they are taking on.  They look at the summit of Everest and don’t really see it again until they are standing on it.

Prolific writers don’t think about the 60,000 words they need to write for the book, they think in pages or paragraphs or just word by word.  John Grisham wrote one page per day before starting work at his day job.  One page a day.

If a Gap Opens, The Resistance will win

The moment a gap of thinking is opened, the Resistance will step in and will win.  If I stop to edit, I will kill this writing session.  If an ultramarathon runner thinks “how much more have I got left?” his Resistance will win.  The moment that the pause comes in, is when the Resistance has a chance of winning.

The Resistance will win in any argument.  It has no morals nor any type of excuse that it will not use.  It can only be conquered for moments when you commit completely to the flow, to the production of words, to the practice of piano, to make the sales call, to finish the drawing.

Performance = Potential – Self Sabotage

I spent some time last year interviewing successful endurance athletes like Kilian Jornet.  I wrote about the Mental Models of High Performance.  How do they manage to do the “impossible”?

The answer was quite simple:  They don’t think.  When they are running, biking or swimming they don’t let their mind wander off into the future.  They stay present in this moment.  At most the next stroke, or at the very most the next pause for a drink.

How to write a book?

Write like a horse.  Can you do one more word?  Write one more word.  Keep going.