Arjun Khemani

“It is easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.”

 Leonardo da Vinci

The mind is eminent for its resistance. We occasionally experience resistance even to doing things that we deep-down really want to do. And that’s strange, isn’t it?

Although; I completely agree with what the great polymath Da Vinci observed on resistance. It really is easier to resist doing something at the beginning—or before even getting started—than it is for the “foxy” mind to resist at the end.*

Before, we have a state of mind. To do something—usually hard which takes physical or mental effort—means changing our current state of mind. That causes a feeling of resistance (or a desire to procrastinate) to build up. Our logical and irrational minds begin a tug-of-war. Logic says that you should do the work. Instinct tells you to postpone it.
Many times, logic and instinct do work together, pulling the same rope, on the same end. That’s how we get any work done. When logic and the irrational mind work on the same team, work seems like play. When you know you “should” be doing something and when you want to be doing just that; right then, that’s when both contrasting minds agree and you win from the usual combined monkey mind. You then have a sweet change in state of mind and are easily able to do what both minds agree upon doing.

But, reality isn’t always that sweet. Often, the two minds fight. One advises the conscious you on what you should do. The other tells you not to listen to the rational mind.
“It’s gone out of it’s mind.” whines the instinct. “Be Zen. And maintain this calming Netflix binge.”
“You don’t even have a mind!” abuses rational mind to the instinct.

And the fight continues. You have the power to choose. Though sometimes, the power to choose is really not a power. Sometimes, the winner is clear and you go with the winner. So, the influence of the two opposite thinking minds is quite a lot on you, really.

These two minds are what create resistance to and the desire to procrastinate doing work.

When deadlines come close, even the irrational mind agrees with the logical. And so both work without the need for any of the minds to cause any resistance.
That’s why it’s easier to resist at the beginning than it is to do so at the end, when deadlines hit.

Once you get in a flow-state, things pick up and get easier from there. There’s no more resistance once you really start doing something. Once you are shifted to another state of mind, there’s no cause for any mind to build resistance.

Whatever it may be and however you try and tackle resistance, life is hard and not pleasurable with even a bit of it.
Like Steven Pressfield noted,

Most of us have two lives: the life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.

We ought to bury resistance if we are to live our unlived life. An exciting new life may arise from it. You would be able to work with more flow, less resistance. More peace, less conflict. More freedom from, and less slavery to the monkey mind.
Make resistance a stronger choice. And choose against resistance

. . . . .

Footnotes

* “foxy” means resembling or likened to a fox. Synonyms – cunning, sly, wily.