Success Advice
Dont Ever Let This One Thing Crush You And Your Dreams

I’ve tried pretty much everything in the way of increasing productivity…
I’ve created to do lists, checklists, and goals for each day. I’ve dedicated special blocks of every day to writing, email, product creation, you name it.
I’ve read books about how to maximize productivity, how to get more done in less time, while at a higher quality.
Of everything I’ve read and out of everything I’ve tried, the greatest ally, tactic, or tip I’ve come across thus far, was given to me by Steven Pressfield, in his books, The War of Art and, Turning Pro
Both books cover a great deal about what it means to create something, far beyond what I’m going to talk about in this article. What they did that no other book had done before, is position doing work as a battle. A battle against an enemy that Pressfield calls, The Resistance.
What is the Resistance?
The Resistance is anything that keeps you from doing your work. It can be internal, in the form of fear, worry, or laziness. It can be external in the form of others who are trying to pry you away from your mission and your work.
The Resistance has a few definitive characteristics
The Resistance is persistent
You can defeat it in battle, even kill it, but it will always come back the next day. Battle against the Resistance is a daily endeavor for those of us who are trying to perfect our craft.
Whether you’re an athlete, a writer, a marketer, an artist in the conventional sense, or a person trying to lose a few pounds, but every time you start a diet, the world seems to conspire to get you to quite, you’re at war against the Resistance.
The Resistance is your fear of failure that prevents you from setting the big, hairy, audacious goals your soul truly wants to achieve, set, and create in your life. It’s your sense of worry that prevents you from aiming high enough, the voice inside of you that wants to remain small and safe.
The Resistance has to be defeated if you’re going to not only write the book your want to write, paint the painting your soul longs to create, or get paid to play the game you’re in love with, but it has to be defeated if you’re going to live.
Pressfield has one of the most eloquent and eye-opening definitions of ambition I’ve yet to read:
Ambition, I have come to believe, is the most primal and sacred fundamental of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence. ~ Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro
Ambition isn’t merely what you want in life, it is life. To defeat the Resistance, is to live in accordance with what your soul truly longs for, what it feels this thing called life is all about.
The Resistance is cunning
The Resistance will try to rationalize your laziness. It’s your internal voice that tells you that the deadline can be pushed to tomorrow, that it’s “ok” to take just one, insignificant day off.
The Resistance will trick you if you don’t identify its existence, and wage war upon it.
If you ignore it, the Resistance will conquer you, leave you broke, weak, and as far away from accomplishing your goals, and the object of your ambition, as you can possibly be.
The only way to understand what it truly is, is to be aware that the Resistance exists, and it’s trying to kill you every day.
The Resistance is fear
The Resistance is relentless, persistent, and cunning. It can take the form of happy thoughts, of people you love, of selfish desires, but it’s always grounded, founded, and supported by fear.
Having read Mr. Pressfield’s books many times over, and waging war against this demon daily, I still find it hard to determine whether it’s the Resistance talking, or me. I have to focus to determine whether it’s a venture – or an adventure – I truly want to pursue, or one that’s guided by fear.
Fear always wants to lead us to safer pastures. Fear isn’t something we should avoid, or move with, but something we should oppose.
If something scares us, then it’s a pretty good determinant of something we should be doing, pursuing, moving towards, and giving every ounce of our energy to.
It’s the things we fear most, that we often want most.
Our greatest fears aren’t snakes, crocodiles, or spiders, but failure in what we’d most like to do with our lives. Our greatest fears in life are that we’ll die without doing what our souls know we should be doing.
When we take the first step to accomplishing this object of our fear, the Resistance throws everything it possibly can at us. It puts more on our plate, reasons with us as to why now isn’t the time, brings a relationship into our lives, the death of a loved one, another interest that’s easier, a route that is safer to take.
The Resistance is real. It’s cunning, persistent, and relentless
It will attack us when we’re about to embark on our great journey, or we’re about to realize is become something real, tangible, a creation. Identify the enemy if you want to live a strong life, ignore it if you want to live a small one.
Fight it everyday as the alarm rings and you’d rather stay in bed. Defeat it with every step towards perfecting your craft, facing your fears, and conquering that voice inside of you that wants nothing more than safety.
If you’re waging this war, and fighting this battle. I applaud you. You’re one of the few.
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Why Your Confidence Needs to Match Your Competence

Even if you produce amazing results at your job or in other areas of your life, others may still not see you as being competent if you lack the confidence to back it up. If you are good at your job, exuding confidence will ensure others also recognize your competence in your area of expertise. And research backs this up. (more…)
Success Advice
5 Things You Can Learn From The 5am Club by Robin Sharma

It has been said by Robin Sharma, “5 AM is the time of least distraction, highest human glory, and greatest peace.” This also happens to be the central idea or the core value he has discussed in his book, ‘The 5 Am Club.’ Speaking of early mornings, at what time do you wake up? Are you annoyed by the fact that you wake up on the edge of time and then rush to work in haste?
The life lessons put forth by The 5 AM Club are exactly the learning and motivation you need to challenge your complacency. In your race against time, you may not have the time to read this fabulous book. So, we have summed up the key book’s takeaways for your convenience.
1. The vigor of waking up early
This is what the book’s most fundamental advice to everyone is. Waking up at 5 am every day can work wonders to avert failures and make success a natural habit. When we wake up at 5 am, we have more time on our hands than others. Besides, this is when we have minimum interruptions and maximum powerfulness of the mind.
To add, the early morning peace is priceless! You can schedule your most important tasks of the day between 5am, and 8am. This book teaches us in the simplest way, how we can train our mind and strengthen it to deliver the highest productivity by waking up early. This energy that you have when you wake up in the morning and the few additional hours in your day are what serve as perfect ingredients for success.
“The secret to productivity is simplicity.” – Robin Sharma
2. The power of finding the right balance in life
The book talks about a precious lesson of finding the right balance within. We often talk about the need for mindfulness and achieving the right mindset to perceive things. But this book goes a few steps ahead of our usual approach to life. It highlights the vitality of mindset and introduces the concepts of heartset, healthset, and soulset.
These terms may seem new, but they are self-explanatory. The idea of heartset endorses the essentialness of emotional stability and well-being. Next, the perspective of healthset indicates the need to look after physical health. At last, soulset is an attribute of spirituality. As explained in this book, success prospects can be enhanced big time by achieving the right balance between these internal virtues.
3. The iconic 20/20/20 modus operandi
What is the first thing you will do if you start waking up at 5 am every day? Did you ever spare a thought about it? This book has the answer to this question, and you will be convinced that it is a great way to begin your day!. The author suggests that you should split the first hour of the day into three equal parts of 20 minutes each.
In the first 20 minutes of the day, you should prioritize your physical fitness and exercise. In the next 20 minutes, you should energize your soul and spirit via self-reflection and soulful meditation. This will prepare you for the rest of the day and will enable you to bolster your commitment and focus. In the last 20 minutes of the first hour, you should read and learn. But what are you going to read about in those 20 minutes? Read about successful people and their inspiring journeys to the pinnacle of success.
4. The significance of a proper sleep schedule
In this book, there is a mention of ‘a ferocious global sleep recession’, which is intriguing and enlightening. It hints at the state of sleep deprivation that this world is sinking into gradually. We often associate success and hard work with the notion of staying up all night and testing our endurance beyond limits. But that is not the right approach to accomplishing success, or rather, it is a flawed methodology.
Sometimes even if we do not have any critical work, we keep whiling our night time on social media or television. What are we gaining from it is the real question, and I am afraid the answer is nothing! We learn from this book that it is critical to look after your sleep cycle and start your day at 5 am afresh. Sleep and rest are indispensable for mental and physical well-being, or your productivity will decline.
5. The art of evolving
The book sheds light on the need to be spiritual and master self-reflection. However, do you realize the purpose that the routine of reflection each morning serves? The idea is to keep learning, keep reflecting on the mistakes and keep evolution an ongoing process. You should evolve every day and strive to be a better version of yourself every day. So, one of your primary goals after waking up should be to reflect on your actions and missed opportunities of the previous day.
To recapitulate, The 5 AM Club is a must-read book if you are a passionate reader. It has the prowess and charm to refurbish your perception of life altogether. Even if you cannot read the book for some reason, make sure you incorporate the above key takeaways into your life. By starting your day at 5 am, you can rediscover your lost soul and enthusiasm, and you would not have complaints to make about the lack of time. If you can own your mornings, you can go places on the ladder of success, for excuses are only for those who are not committed to their goals.
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Timothy
Apr 29, 2016 at 6:42 am
Then there’s the incredible realisation that you made the ‘resistance’ up in the first place. You v your ego! The fight is not to see how great you can become – but how great your authentic act of service can be.
Aarzoo Mastan
Jun 30, 2013 at 5:43 pm
Amazing thoughts …if someone really understood can change his or her life….
Thani
Jun 24, 2013 at 4:30 am
Thank you for sharing this, I feel like I’m about to actually realizing what it is holding me back. I”m doing my best or should say I should giving it my all to fight the fear that is holding me back. I know part of the reason why, just I have yet to identify it.
Kerry Brooks
Jun 23, 2013 at 8:14 am
This was just what I needed to hear at this time in my life when I feel completely stuck about what I want to do. This is the second time in a week I’ve been recommended these books so I’m obviously meant to read them! God works in mysterious ways … thank you for an inspiring article Chad 😀
Ebere
Jun 17, 2013 at 1:08 pm
Thanks for sharing Chad. I know i will succeed in my endeavors if i can overcome The Resistance but i am seriously struggling with it on a daily basis and it seems to be having a upper hand 🙁
Simona L
Jun 14, 2013 at 6:31 am
I like how Chad wrote this article. And I find myself fighting the resistance everyday. Thanks for the great insight chad. Power to all who dare to be great 🙂 🙂 🙂
chadhowse
Jun 14, 2013 at 2:34 pm
Thanks Simona, and well said!
Dave
Jun 14, 2013 at 5:03 am
This is awesome. Thanks for sharing. It’s remarkable, both these books have come on my radar recently and I’ve been meaning to get them.
chadhowse
Jun 14, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Read them, Dave. They’re unique. If you’re a guy who likes competition, they’ll definitely help you flourish in your business/art/venture.
Natalie
Jun 13, 2013 at 8:45 pm
I fight The Resistance, seemingly, everyday. Some days it’s just a skirmish, other days it’s a major battle. Over time, I have managed to move the battle lines in my favor.
chadhowse
Jun 14, 2013 at 2:36 pm
That’s awesome Natalie!
shobelyn dayrit
Jun 17, 2013 at 7:29 pm
So good for you. Right now, I am still struggling but I am getting better each day by accepting how life is suppose to be.