Live, Leave or Change
Overcoming Resistance (Live, Leave, or Change - part VI)
Our goal to drive out bad resistance makes decisions more challenging. Deciding how to respond to good resistance takes a keen eye and a strong will.
This series has explored the nature of resistance, emphasizing its importance in our growth journeys. Resistance, whether internal or external, active or passive, is an inevitable part of life. Recognizing its presence allows us to understand whether to live with it, leave it, or change it.
We’ve discussed the different ways to respond to resistance—living with it when it aligns with our long-term goals, leaving it when it no longer serves us, or changing it when a fresh perspective is needed. These decision points are opportunities for personal transformation, where each choice is a step toward growth.
Quick Reference Guide: Summary Tables
Through introspection, frameworks like GROW, STOP, and HOW, and a clear understanding of your values, resistance becomes less of a barrier and more of a guidepost for your journey. Here are the breakdowns of these acronyms:
GROW:
G – Goal: Define your ultimate objective. What are you trying to achieve?
R – Reality: Understand the current situation and resistance. What obstacles are you facing, and why?
O – Options: Brainstorm new strategies and approaches. What alternatives do you have?
W – Way Forward: Decide on a concrete plan for moving past the resistance. What steps will you take?
STOP:
S – Stop and pause for reflection.
T – Take a breath to clear your mind.
O – Observe the thoughts and feelings behind the resistance.
P – Proceed with a clear decision on how to handle the situation.
HOW:
H – Honest conversations: Assess whether honest discussions are possible.
O – Open dialogue: Evaluate if open dialogue exists among those involved.
W – Willingness to engage: Determine if there is a willingness to engage in resolving the situation.
In leadership, business, or personal life, embracing resistance with intention and clarity allows for resilience, insight, and success.
Great things aren’t achieved by avoiding difficulty—they’re built on how we navigate them.
