How to Overcome the Resistance to Improve
Summary
TLDRThe video script delves into the psychological barriers of resistance that hinder progress, particularly in creative fields like art. It explains the 'Matthew Effect' and how comfort zones can become traps, making it difficult to break out and learn new skills. The speaker shares personal experiences and strategies to overcome resistance, such as using System 2 thinking to learn new techniques until they become habitual. The importance of maintaining curiosity, reducing distractions, and minimizing action barriers is emphasized to foster a productive creative process.
Takeaways
- 😨 **Fear of New Things**: People often fear trying new things and retreat to their comfort zones, which is detrimental to progress.
- 🚀 **Action vs. Inaction**: Taking action, despite being terrifying, is less harmful than not taking action at all.
- 🎨 **Overcoming Resistance**: To progress, one must overcome resistance, which increases the longer one stays in their comfort zone.
- 🤔 **Understanding Resistance**: Resistance arises when we try to learn something new and step out of our habitual processes.
- 🧠 **Two Thinking Systems**: 'Thinking Fast and Slow' describes two systems of thinking, where system 1 is automatic and system 2 requires focus and self-control.
- 🔄 **Breaking the Cycle**: To break free from the comfort zone, one must repeatedly push through resistance until it becomes easier.
- 💪 **Determination Required**: As skills develop, the effort required to improve increases, necessitating more determination.
- 🏆 **Professional Aspirations**: To become a professional, one must persevere despite resistance and the opinions of others.
- 👶 **Impact of Childhood**: Resistance can stem from childhood experiences, and it's important to overcome these to progress.
- 🔄 **Rediscover Curiosity**: Returning to one's original passion and curiosity can help reduce resistance and reignite the joy of creating.
- 🛠️ **Minimize Distractions**: Reducing distractions and barriers to action can help maintain focus and motivation.
- 🔧 **Optimize Workflow**: Establishing a routine and optimizing behaviors that delay starting can significantly increase productivity.
Q & A
What is the main challenge people face when trying to learn something new?
-The main challenge is resistance, which arises when trying to learn something new and stepping out of one's comfort zone. This resistance can make the learning process feel incredibly difficult and lead to procrastination or giving up.
How does the Matthew Effect relate to staying in one's comfort zone?
-The Matthew Effect suggests that the longer one stays in their comfort zone, the harder it becomes to break out of it. This is because the resistance to change increases with time, making it more challenging to step out and try new things.
What are the two thinking systems described in the book 'Thinking Fast and Slow'?
-The two thinking systems are System 1, which is fast, intuitive, and requires little effort for familiar tasks, and System 2, which is slow, deliberate, and requires more cognitive load for tasks that are less familiar or more complex.
Why does the comfort zone have an addictive quality according to the script?
-The comfort zone is addictive because it involves using familiar techniques and processes that require little effort and are already mastered, making it easier and more pleasant to stay within that zone rather than facing the challenges of learning something new.
What is the significance of cognitive load in the context of learning new skills?
-Cognitive load refers to the mental effort required to process new information or learn new skills. It is significant because high cognitive load can make the learning process feel unpleasant and exhausting, which can deter progress and motivation.
How can one use System 2 to learn until it becomes a System 1 process?
-One can use System 2 to learn a new skill by focusing and exerting self-control until the skill becomes habitual and requires less mental effort, at which point it transitions to a System 1 process.
What is the importance of determination in overcoming resistance to progress?
-Determination is key in overcoming resistance because it drives one to continue pushing through challenges and maintaining the effort required to improve and learn new skills, even when facing obstacles.
How can childhood experiences impact an individual's resistance to change?
-Childhood experiences, such as feeling unworthy of good things, can create a self-limiting belief system that pulls one back when trying to improve or change. These experiences can make it harder to believe in one's abilities and to overcome resistance.
What mindset is suggested to help hold on when facing resistance in one's creative journey?
-The mindset suggested is to treat oneself as an investment, similar to long-term stock investing, where one focuses on doing the right things consistently, understanding that success may not be immediate but is more likely with persistent effort over time.
Why is it important to solve practical problems when learning a new skill?
-Solving practical problems is important because it addresses the specific issues that hinder progress, allowing for targeted learning and improvement. It ensures that the learning process is effective and leads to tangible skills that can be applied in practice.
How can one reduce resistance when trying to take action on a new skill?
-One can reduce resistance by returning to the original intention, rediscovering curiosity, and focusing on the joy of learning rather than the struggle. Additionally, minimizing distractions and barriers to action can make it easier to start and maintain the learning process.
Outlines
🚀 Overcoming Resistance to Growth
This paragraph discusses the universal fear of trying new things and the tendency to retreat to familiar territory, which hinders progress. The speaker shares their personal experience of creating illustrations every two weeks to overcome resistance and improve. The concept of the Matthew effect is introduced, explaining how staying in one's comfort zone makes it increasingly difficult to break out. The paragraph also references 'Thinking Fast and Slow' to explain the cognitive load and resistance encountered when trying new methods, contrasting it with the ease of using familiar techniques. The importance of pushing through this resistance to achieve progress is emphasized.
🎨 Cultivating Curiosity and Reducing Resistance
The second paragraph focuses on the strategies to minimize resistance in the creative process. It suggests returning to one's original intention and rediscovering curiosity as ways to overcome the discomfort of learning new techniques. The speaker shares personal anecdotes about losing and regaining passion for drawing, highlighting the importance of maintaining a curious mindset. The paragraph also addresses the importance of focus and how reducing distractions and barriers to action can improve productivity. Practical tips are given, such as putting away distractions and simplifying the process of starting work to make it easier to take action. The speaker concludes by emphasizing the need to establish routines and minimize obstacles to increase productivity and enjoy the creative process.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Resistance
💡Comfort Zone
💡Matthew Effect
💡System 1 and System 2
💡Cognitive Load
💡Determination
💡Beginner's Trap
💡Childhood Trauma
💡Investment Metaphor
💡Curiosity
💡Action
Highlights
Fear of trying new things is a common obstacle to progress.
The Matthew effect suggests that staying in your comfort zone makes it harder to break out.
Creating an illustration every two weeks helped overcome resistance and improve.
Resistance exists when trying to learn something new and unfamiliar.
Thinking Fast and Slow introduces two thinking systems: System 1 for habitual actions and System 2 for focused, effortful tasks.
The comfort zone is addictive and hard to break free from.
Using System 2 to learn until it becomes a System 1 process is a strategy for growth.
As skills improve, more effort is required to create decent work and progress.
Determination is key to overcoming resistance and achieving professional artist status.
Resistance can stem from childhood trauma and self-worth issues.
It's important to treat oneself as an investment and not be discouraged by short-term setbacks.
Effective practice involves understanding why progress stalls and addressing the root causes.
Solving practical problems in art is a correct approach for long-term improvement.
Reducing resistance involves returning to one's original intention and rediscovering curiosity.
Focus is improved not by trying harder but by reducing distractions and barriers to action.
Establishing a routine and minimizing obstacles between thought and action increases productivity.
Transcripts
we all fear trying new things even when
we want to we try a little face
obstacles and then Retreat to what we
already know or just procrastinate this
is the biggest enemy of progress taking
action is terrifying but not taking
action is even worse every time we try
to create and learn something new there
is resistance and because of the Matthew
effect the longer you stay in your
comfort zone the harder it is to break
out of it in the past 3 months I've
created an illustration every 2 weeks
experimenting with different styles and
forms before this my progress was slow
but I've realized some methods that can
help in this video we will discuss why
resistance exist why some artists can
maintain their passion and how to
progress with the least amount of
resistance why resistance exist when we
use familiar techniques and processes
there are no obstacles but when we try
to learn something new it becomes
incredibly difficult we might endlessly
save tutorials on YouTube or buy some
courses get excited by its introduction
and then give up when we encounter
something hard to understand than to buy
another course this doesn't lead to
progress the book Thinking Fast and Slow
explains this through two thinking
systems system one we don't need to
consciously think about our daily route
home how to turn the steering wheel when
to hit the gas or when to break often we
find ourselves back home without even
realizing it when these activities
become habitual we require little effort
to execute them the same applies to
drawing using familiar processes for
line art shading and and listening to
music time seems to fly by but when we
try a new method we Face enormous
resistance you may have seen my
composition video if you hadn't
encountered composition before trying to
use this knowledge in your work would be
challenging this is normal this thinking
process is system 2 system 2 requires a
high degree of focus it demands
self-control which gets depleted over
time psychologist Roy bow meister's
experiments show that this process is
unpleasant and exhausting Thinking Fast
and slow refers to this as cognitive
load when only system one is active
we're in our comfort zone the comfort
zone has a certain addictive quality the
longer you stay in it the harder it is
to Break Free the tough part is we have
to admit that stepping out of our
comfort zone is hard the good news is
that it gets easier the more we push
through once we gain momentum everything
becomes easier use system 2 to learn
until it becomes a system one process
then use system 2 to learn something new
again consistently push ourselves
because we want to get better so we need
to make a firm decision when we first
start learning we don't need much
determination because there aren't many
obstacles and we don't have high
expectations of ourselves but as we gain
some skills and experiences and want to
move beyond the beginners trap to create
work that looks decent we need to spend
several times more effort on a single
piece we must refine the lines rethink
the elements and details and figure out
how to explain them we should address
the issues we previously ignored as long
as the direction is correct repeating
this process with a few pieces will lead
to significant Improvement determination
is key if you truly decide to win the
game every problem will be solved if you
want to become a professional artist and
your friends or family say it's too
risky but you only have a try it out
mentality you're likely to give up when
you face resistance some people see
themselves as victims thinking they
suffer so much but don't get the results
sacrificing something to do what you
want is basic nothing special everybody
does that nobody respects someone who
decides to do something but quits after
some resistance respect yourself and
take action sometimes this resistance
stems from childhood trauma perhaps
someone made you feel Unworthy of good
things as you grew up every time you try
to become a better person your past self
pulls you back but in your journey there
must have been people who supported you
thinking you're doing well yet you don't
believe the good words you only remember
the hurtful ones this is normal
childhood has a massive impact on us
give yourself another the chance you
deserve better what if there are no
results this is tough to endure and is
why many people give up before a video
goes viral I created over 70 videos each
taking about 10 hours after a year I
only had 400 subscribers and many videos
didn't even reach 100 views I wanted to
quit countless times but there's a
mindset that helped me hold on treat
yourself as an investment when stocks
start to Trend downward some people
panic and sell While others hold
longterm the stock might recover or it
might not no one can know for sure I
decided to become an artist but can I at
least make a living or will I never
succeed how should we think about this
situation the answer is that these
concerns are irrelevant they're just
noise we need our own strategy and code
of conduct the investors who earn in the
market longterm don't time the market
long-term investing has a principle as
long as you keep doing the right things
logically time and accumulation will
inevitably lead to good results
in the stock market doing the right
thing means having an Investment
Portfolio with a built-in system of
survival of the fittest for example spy
the S&P 500 invests in the best
companies in the US market despite
short-term fluctuations it's bound to
make money longterm this isn't an
investment Channel let's get back to Art
what's the logical choice in art
effective practice for example I wanted
to learn Anatomy so I copied a lot of
references but I couldn't apply it to my
work this is ineffective at this point I
need enough knowledge to understand why
I'm not progressing because when copying
I was just tracing lines without
understanding muscle structure what if I
understand the muscle structure but
still can't draw well the usual problem
is perspective when the angle changes I
can't draw it then it's a perspective
issue first I need to learn how to
simplify the structure then rotate it
solving practical problems is the
correct approach in the short term it
might look like you're drawing worse but
in the long term you'll improve because
it's the logically correct thing to do I
share my studies and illustration
breakdowns on patreon I'm not a
professional artist yet but I'm on this
path and documenting the process of
solving problems and experimenting it'll
be helpful to you now back to the theme
of the video how to reduce resistance as
much as possible the more you fight
against it the stronger the resistance
gets which can make drawing feel
unenjoyable that's a sign that the
approach is wrong the truth is it's very
simple return to your original intention
and ReDiscover
curiosity there was a time when I
completely lost my passion for drawing
until I watched a video of two artists
who truly love art discussing their
Works what touched me the most was how
they kept repeating something like
it's that simple it's all the noise that
makes us forget why we started drawing
in the first place that curious heart is
still there keep drawing we've
understood why there's resistance made
the decision to push forward and
rekindled our curiosity now it's time to
take action action requires Focus many
people mistakenly think they need to try
hard to focus but in life there are many
things where the harder you try the
harder they become focus is one of them
in this case we need a different
approach if we reduce distractions we
now naturally become more focused if we
reduce the barriers to taking action we
become more motivated to act when I'm
writing scripts I often find myself
opening YouTube and mindlessly scrolling
that's a distraction once I realize this
I stop doing it sometimes I catch myself
opening YouTube out of habit but as soon
as I notice I close it of course the
biggest distraction is the phone so when
I start working I put my phone on
airplane mode and leave it in another
room next let's talk about reducing the
barriers to action imagine two scenarios
in the first scenario you turn on your
computer wait for it to load open clip
Studio Paint wait for it to load and
then start drawing in the second
scenario you turn on your iPad open
procreate and start drawing immediately
it's not that you have to use an iPad
but it's about making it as easy and
quick as possible to start doing the
work I'm used to drawing on a tablet so
it's not a barrier for me anymore but
when I travel I bring my iPad in
situations where there's a lot of
waiting I can pull out my iPad and do
some practice I often end up drawing
more than I do at home
the essential step is to identify and
optimize the behaviors that delay your
start by establishing a routine your
productivity will increase significantly
minimizing the obstacles between thought
and action is key hope this is helpful
thank you for watching
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