Do you ever find yourself unable or unwilling to do the work you really want to do?

I’m not talking about putting off washing the dishes or completing the annual report.  I’m talking about the stuff you know can create big, positive changes in your  life.  Opening your own gallery, Calling the donor that could make your next big project a reality.  Quitting your day job to start the nonprofit you’ve been talking about.

If you are like me, you start off with a big burst of energy, do some work on the project and then seem to hit an invisible wall.  No matter how hard you push, or how much you beat yourself up, you just can’t seem to force yourself to move forward.  Eventually you get tired and stop trying, or get distracted by the next cool thing and move on, leaving a path of half finished projects in your wake.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not about being flighty or lazy.

Remember how our monsters act mean and scary to try to keep us from doing things that feel dangerous?  That invisible wall works in a similar fashion.  We usually find it when a part of us (usually the “heart” part of us) is ready to try something new and exciting and another part of us (usually the “lizard brain”) thinks it would be better to stay right where we are thank-you-very-much.

I have seen some people break through that wall through sheer force of will–they just keep banging away at it until it falls down.

I never mastered that trick.  There have been times in my life where I tried to be a “push through” kind of person.  For some small stuff I was occasionally successful, but usually I just ended up tired, bruised and defeated.

Luckily there are other ways.  For the past 18 years Susan Johnstone at The Heart’s Voice has been helping people achieve their heart’s desires by using, rather than fighting, their resistance (i.e. the wall).

I have been following Susan’s work for awhile (we are both students in the Remarkable Marketing Blueprint) and have been impressed with how she approaches resistance.   And yet, because she only worked with people one-on-one, and I wasn’t ready to begin a coaching relationship, I assumed I would have to find another way over my walls.

Then, this weekend, Susan helped me solve that dilemma by releasing her first product:  a self-service tool based on the work she does with clients to dissolve, or, as she says, digest, resistance.

I bought the tool right away and love it.  At it’s core it is a set of questions that help you do three things.  First, you decide what “one thing” you will do in the next 24 hours to move closer to your dreams.  Then, it  helps you plan how you will deal with the inevitable blockages.  Finally, since many blocks are hard to notice in the moment, the tool helps you develop the skills you need to become aware of how resistance manifests itself and what to do when you notice it.

The steps are simple enough to do without second guessing yourself, and deep enough to get to the real heart of the matter.  And, since the whole sequence takes only 15 minutes, it sneaks past the “you are too busy to sit here and navel gaze–get to work!!!” part of the brain that loves to be busy doing stuff that doesn’t really matter.

My favorite part?  Unlike other “motivation” tools, it is also 100% battle metaphor free.

If  this sounds like a process that might work for you too, go see what Susan has to say about it.

Finally, if you have questions for me or for Susan, please leave them in the comments, I’ll answer the ones I can, and ask Susan to stop by and answer the rest.