Day One: A Promise to Resist Resistance

Resistance

Thanks to the amygdalae, these tiny but efficient clusters of neurons, most of us are necessarily resistant to possible bad outcomes. E.g. Because you remember the emotions (particularly stress) of spending the night curled on the bathroom floor after downing tequila, gin, and perhaps something else you can’t remember, you never, ever play “catch up” when you come late to a party again.

Sounds like a great feat of evolution, right?

Hi. My name is Katie and I have a resistance problem.

Instead of utilizing the benefits of resistance, I’ve let my amygdalae take the reigns in life. Because of resistance, I am an awful decision maker. I over-think choices until it’s too late to really make the most of either choice. Case in point, deciding what snack to eat is a resistance-filled experience that often goes something like this: "I don’t want to commit to any of these snacks because what if I make the wrong choice. What if that’s not really the snack I wanted. What if I actually wanted crackers? But an apple would be healthier. But I really don’t like apples all that much. But it would be healthier than crackers...." It goes on and on.

Because I remember the disappointment of making a decision (possibly food related), I refuse to make the decision and eventually leave the kitchen empty handed. Now imagine how irritating it is for friends and family to witness this process when it comes to making ACTUAL decisions.

Hence the goal:

Take back the reigns from resistance while traveling in Costa Rica for six weeks. The object is to focus on what is important, get rid of the hemming and hawing, stop stalling with the irrelevant things, make decisions, say yes, and make the most out of this opportunity(whatever this may mean).

Held Accountable:

Productivity and exercise sites recommend you make a public promise to reach your goal. As a productivity blog junkie (who’d guess), that’s exactly what this blog is. My promise to you is to win against resistance at least once a day while in Costa Rica.

While getting to a computer might not always be possible (due to the no-resistance choices I make along the way), I will update you on my anti-resistance activities and be accountable for each day by doing backlogged updates once a computer is at hand.

Thank you for reading!

Comments about travel, Costa Rica, ways you've resisted resistance are all welcome. Thank you for joining my journey!