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F*ck the Resistance
Don't let it kill your creativity
Parves Shahid
December 26, 2024
I have no ideas.
Not even one. It's zero. I'm blanking.
Today, I'm running on willpower and consistency. I don't have any ideas of inspiration or aspiration. It's usually a struggle to narrow down the ideas in my creative mind. Today? I have a black hole of nothingness.
A few weeks ago, I promised myself that I would write something every day. I wanted to make it a habit, more than anything else, to write for the sake of writing, writing because it's enjoyable and perhaps not meant for an audience.
The Raw and Unfiltered category was created to enable my daily writing habit, consisting of simple hobbies and observations from my day and the world around me. But perhaps Dead Week disinfected any growing ideas in my brain.
But I’m writing what you’re reading.
Because sometimes you force your lethargy into a headlock and make it tap out to action.
Because sometimes your feelings don't matter—get it done—that's the only thing that matters.
Sometimes, "no idea" is an excuse to avoid work. F*ck the excuses and do what it takes, and do what you have to do.
In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield calls names this phenomenon the Resistance: a force that stops us from doing the work, stopping us when we are in the throes of creativity and even more when we’re close to the finish line.
I’m pretty sure Resistance is jiving with me right now.
Most of us have two lives. The life we live and the unlived life within us. Between the two, stands resistance.
Pressfield outlines a few ways to overcome the anti-creative demon. Here are a few if you ever run into it:
Be professional—you don't wait for inspiration. You treat the craft like a full-time job and get to work.
Be organized—know what you must do daily and get through it. There's no need for ambitious goals that might cause stress because the Resistance loves that. It sprinkles in a bit of fear, slithers into your soul, and causes you to throw in the towel. The Resistance has won.
Understanding the Resistance—this one's a good one. As they say, you can't manage what you can't measure. In this case you can't manage what you're not aware of. If you're facing Resistance, you know you must be on the right path. And that is your motivation to do the thing. The higher the Resistance, the faster you get to work.
One way to counter Resistance is through the DARE Framework:
Define your creative goal or project
Act by taking one small step toward it
Reframe limiting beliefs as opportunities for growth
Evaluate progress and adjust as needed
By cycling through these steps, you build momentum and chip away at Resistance over time.
Real Creators Who Dared to Resist
Many successful creators have openly shared their battles with Resistance:
Maya Angelou famously rented a tiny hotel room to write in, removing all distractions and forcing herself to put words on the page. She knew the power of simply showing up.
J.K. Rowling penned Harry Potter in stolen snatches of time as a struggling single mother. She has said, "I write when I can, and I write whether I feel like it or not."
Steven Pressfield himself admits to grappling with Resistance every day, even as a bestselling author. His secret? "I show up in the morning and I do my work."
These creators triumphed not because they never faced Resistance, but because they found ways to act despite it. They understood that the only way to lose the game was to stop playing.
So, I've written this thing. I'm a professional, here I am. And I'm aware of the Resistance, so there was no way I wasn't putting together words today.
Next time you're blanking, be professional and get to work. Worst case scenario: take a walk, shower, meet friends, read a book—do anything that gets you back in the zone.
But don't avoid it.
And don't give up.
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