Resistance Is a Gift in Disguise

Fred Wilson via AVC:

I’ve never met a successful entrepreneur who didn’t get knocked down in the ring at least once or twice. I told him that you can read all you want and get all the advice and coaching that is available and you still will not learn the hard lessons that one has to learn to become best in class at what you do. I’ve come to the conclusion that you have to learn some things the hard way to really learn them well.

At the end of the breakfast, I congratulated him. Not so much on getting through a rough spot in his business, but for getting knocked down and getting back up and winning the round. Because that is what you have to do to get better in life and in business.

Personally, getting knocked down has taught me a ton. Sometimes the things that knock us over the hardest is ourselves—the inner voice of fear, uncertainty, and doubt when things get hard. But the thing to remember is that their extent is only what we give them.

Like any obstacle, the only way is [through it](thebadshelf.tumblr.com/post/124621467794/the-obstacle-is-the-way-the-timeless-art-of). That regardless of what may happen, what matters is how you gather yourself and strive despite of the circumstances. Whatever the result, at the end of the day, it’s all just feedback.

Doing hard things is hard. And the ones who become the best at what they do learn from these hard experiences and become better because of them. In this sense, resistance is really a gift in disguise. It means what you’re doing is audacious and has a certain degree of difficulty. It means you want to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. How the process will mold you is determined by how you respond to this resistance.

But first you have to decide that you want to go against it in the first place.