We all have something.
Something that just seems to be out of reach, or at least much more difficult to attract into our life.
Maybe you are really successful and in control of everything when it comes to work and your business. But a loving, long-term relationship has always eluded you.
Perhaps you have great financial security, but each time you try to buy a new house that seems perfect, someone beats yo u to it, and you have to keep looking.
Why do these things happen?
How is it that sometimes the things we want the most are the most difficult to get?
Well, the answer can be boiled down to one thing: Resistance.
Do you know what it is?
In today’s article, I’m going to tell you all about resistance. We’ll look at what it is, where it comes from, and how you can tell if resistance is what’s blocking your ability to manifest what you want.
It’s very natural for all of us to come up against some resistance occasionally. It’s human nature.
From birth, our minds and mentalities started to take shape. We learn how to do things naturally, like crawling and then walking, and our parents teach us to do other things like talking, reading, and communicating our needs and personality to others.
In general, it’s a positive process that is all about development and advancement.
But there is a downside that also occurs naturally. We learn that it’s a very dualistic existence that is based on opposites. Good versus evil, night versus day, right versus wrong, etc. Our early interactions lead to the establishment of many of our core beliefs.
This black and white approach to life can lead to us feeling confused if we see gray areas; we may doubt ourselves and feel as though we have no power. Also, as we get older and become more autonomous, we may find that our new beliefs conflict with the deeply embedded core beliefs that we have grown up with, leading to resistance.
But don’t worry! Even though this all sounds a bit serious, resistance does have some positives to it, and it can even strengthen your ability to manifest if you know how to use it!
I will tell you later about why it’s actually crucial that we occasionally experience resistance, so make sure you don’t miss that bit.
However, let’s start at the beginning:
What is Resistance?
When we talk about resistance in relation to manifesting, it is the internal conflict that you experience that prevents you from attracting what you want into your life.
The majority of the time, resistance comes from a thought or an entrenched belief that is incompatible with what you want to attract.
It’s like a nagging voice that is buried deep down but whispers:
“I’ll never achieve this,” or “I don’t deserve this,” or “I’m not one of those people.”
For example, maybe you have a great idea for a new business,, but you are scared of failing, and there is a potential risk you could lose money. Or perhaps you want to have financial freedom but have some own limiting thoughts and beliefs from your childhood that rich people are arrogant and self-centered.
It might be the manifestation process that highlights these internal conflicts for the first time. You may not have been aware that you had such constricting beliefs until you started trying to attract things into your life.
But this is a great start! Once you notice that you have resistance and figure out what it is, then you can deal with it.
Let’s look at another example. You want to manifest a new car. You know exactly which model you want; you have spent time imagining its perfect, glistening exterior, noticing how the paint shines in the sunlight. You have visualized yourself driving the car, feeling the steering wheel in your hands, inhaling the smell of the brand new car, and love how it feels to drive. You can imagine how exciting it will be to be on a long open road and putting your foot down on the gas.
If you are really familiar with manifesting using the Law of Attraction, maybe you took it a step further and said daily affirmations about your new car and wrote a manifestation journal.
But… you are still waiting.
After you’ve put in all of this effort, this is when you start to think that something isn’t quite right. There is something that’s blocking your ability to attract what you want.
You’re right. It is internal resistance that is getting in the way.
“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”
Steven Pressfield
Let’s move on to look at which indicators show that resistance is blocking your ability to manifest.
1.) You don’t believe in yourself
Did you dream about being a famous sports star, an actor, or perhaps a king or queen when you were young? We don’t hold ourselves back when we are children because anything seems possible.
Have you ever wanted to achieve something so badly that it became like an obsession for you? Was it all you could think about during every waking present moment? Perhaps you even dreamed about it.
What did people around you say when you told them?
Did they think you could do it?
Were they as excited about it as you?
When I was young (about seven years old), I excitedly showed my father a drawing that I had done at school while he was watching tv one evening.
“Look, Daddy! Daddy, look!” I said insistently.
“Look what I did today! My teacher said it was really good! I am going to be a famous artist one day!”
I was waving my artwork in his face, but it didn’t seem to be as interesting to him as the program he was watching.
He looked at it for a few seconds and said, “Hmm, yeah, that’s pretty.”
I wanted him to be at least as enthusiastic as my teacher, but he didn’t even say it was good!
I distinctly remember that day because I suddenly realized that he didn’t think I could be an artist. He didn’t believe in me. I felt that – even when I was seven years old.
I lost faith in myself after that and also lost a lot of interest in drawing. It took years for me to build that belief back up in my artistic ability. And he probably didn’t even realize the impact that had on me. I probably just picked the wrong program to interrupt!
Not believing in yourself often comes from seeing how other people react to you or the things that you do. If you, too, experienced moments in your life where members of your family seemed disinterested in your dreams or gave you the impression that they didn’t think you could fulfill them, then voila! That’s probably where your own lack of self-belief comes from.
I’m not trying to blame anyone here or saying that your family is terrible – not one bit!
I am saying that it’s incredibly common for people not to believe in themselves or other people, and it spreads like wildfire.
We may even be guilty of doing it with other people – as well as to ourselves.
Many people have dreams and have the persistent, reluctant thought that they will remain wishful thinking.
If you grew up seeing a lack of belief that people had in themselves and other people, there’s no wonder that you have picked it up too, and it’s now blocking you from getting what you want.
“Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
2.) You want it desperately
Wanting something too much can actually cause a block between you and what you want to manifest.
People generally find out about the Law of Attraction when they really need something. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who discovered the Law of Attraction when they already had anything they ever wanted. They wouldn’t have needed it!
Let’s say that the first time you use the Law of Attraction is because you desperately need to manifest some money, or a better living environment, or a job promotion, a new job, etc. You are coming from a place of lack, and you will give off a vibration of desperation.
You may feel that you’re trying to be positive because you’re excited about the results you’re going to get, but I can guarantee that it won’t work very well.
If you’ve got incompatible thoughts in your head, such as, “This just has to work. I’m broke, and I really need that money,” and then, “I look forward to being rich,” you have conflicting messages and energies battling against each other.
The Law of Attraction gives you more of what you give out – it works on the concept of ‘like attracts like.’ So if you feel desperate when you put your intention or wish out into the Universe, it will latch on to the vibration you emit, which is frantic worry about a lack of money.
It will never give you positive things as the resistance barrier is too powerful.
So after a while, you quit! You think to yourself, “It’s not happening, so I will have to accept my life as it is.”
And then, guess what? The Universe sees that the resistance has finally been removed, and things start to happen for you!
Perhaps you get a pay raise at work, or maybe a surprise insurance claim or refund pops up!
So that leads you to think, “Well, the Law of Attraction doesn’t work! Nothing happened until I gave up!”
However, I can assure you that attracting things to you in an inverted way doesn’t work – even if it looks that way sometimes.
What actually happens is that it takes for some people to give up the idea of their goal before they can release the desperation that is connected to it.
To want something so desperately will always put a barrier between you and it. But if you can learn to accept your situation as it is and see any future goal as a positive change, rather than an urgent requirement, your manifestation abilities will soar.
“Surrender is the inner transition from resistance to acceptance, from no to yes.”
Eckhart Tolle
3.) You think it’s out of your control
I see this happening with people so frequently, so how to remove resistance from manifestation?
There is a general impression that we have to beg for the Universe to grant our wishes. But if you think about it, the only time people beg and plead for something is when they have no control over it and want to appeal to the nature of someone else.
In fact, you never have to feel that what you want is beyond your own control, and if you do, this can create a barrier to you being able to manifest it.
All of us are made of the Universe. We are all part of the same thing and made from the same matter. So there is no possibility that we are any less important or powerful than the Universe, higher power, divine entity, or whatever you believe in.
You have the power to create your world, and you are much more influential than you realize.
You don’t have to plead for anything because you do not lack it. You are about to manifest it into reality.
If you do try to attract what you want by begging, be aware that you are creating barriers of resistance, and it links to the earlier point about desperation.
Manifest what you desire, don’t hold your hands out and beg that the Universe fill them.
“Real power is not given to us or even created; real power is realized. It comes from realizing an inner sense of peace, self-worth, and happiness.”
Dean Ornish
4.) An internal battle is taking place
Do you often find that you swing backward and forwards when you think about what you want to manifest? Maybe your logic says one thing, but your emotions say another, and you end up having a mental argument that goes round in circles!
This is one of the biggest indicators that you have inner resistance. Here’s what tends to happen:
Let’s say you want to lose weight. You’ve been eating healthily and doing more exercise than usual, but you have a deep-rooted belief that slim people are vain and conceited. It may be so deep down in your subconscious that you’re not even aware that you think it. And while it may seem like it will do no harm, be careful! It’s these types of thoughts that put barriers in the way of you being able to manifest what you want.
If you think (even subconsciously) that slim people are vain and conceited and you don’t consider yourself to be either of those things, you will resist losing weight and becoming slim.
This will be a source of much frustration, particularly if you are unsure why you have resistance.
But your thoughts are what form your reality, so your subconscious mind isn’t going to want you to become those negative things that it perceives, so it tries to protect you.
To understand if it is this type of resistance is blocking you, you can use the visualization technique. Spend time imagining your life as if your dreams have come true. How does it feel? What does it look like? Do you have any worries, or does anything occur to you that might indicate what the limiting belief is?
Often, we spend time thinking about what we have to give up rather than focusing on what we will gain when we have what our heart desires.
When you know what the blocks are, you can work on removing them.
“Our inner battle is the wall that separates us from our own light.”
Margrit Irgang
5.) You ignore the signs
This last indicator to release resistance is a bit more physical than the other four.
Rather than going in the direction of your dreams, you get a bit stuck in the mud and end up not going anywhere!
When you use the Law of Attraction and send your intention out into the Universe, you will receive a response. However, it’s not like ordering something online where a parcel will arrive at your house by courier!
The Universe has to comply with the laws of our physical earth, so it has to communicate with us differently, and it’s important to learn how to notice and understand the messages that you receive.
Be aware of signals that come by way of new opportunities and things that will guide you in the right direction.
Have you ever suddenly had an incredible idea that popped into your head, as if from nowhere, but that you ultimately didn’t act on?
Maybe you have ignored signs money is coming (or something else) that you should rest and just kept working until you were stressed and exhausted.
When it comes to the Law of Attraction, you demonstrate resistance if you ignore your body and intuition. In addition to the Universe, you also have a higher power who will communicate with you. You may receive messages in your dreams or see things such as synchronized numbers 11:11 or other things that link to your goal.
If you don’t act on the signs you are given, the Universe will feel that you have no faith in its ability to give you what you want, so your manifestation will be much slower.
When you resist the path you are being guided upon, you will likely find more and more obstacles in your way.
However, when you let yourself be guided and go with the flow, you will find that the journey speeds up, and you reach your destination much faster.
“There is a soul force in the universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results.”
Mahatma Gandhi
Why we need some Resistance
At the start of this article, I said that I would explain why it is sometimes crucial that we occasionally experience some resistance.
Our experience of reality is dualistic. We live in a world of opposites, so we wouldn’t know what good was if we didn’t understand evil, we wouldn’t have a day without a night, and we wouldn’t appreciate the sunshine after a storm or the rain after a drought.
Thinking along the same lines, without resistance, we would not have manifestation.
Resistance occurs when things happen that we don’t like. When we experience negative emotions such as worry, anxiety, and fear, it wakes us up to know that we don’t want what is currently happening. This, in turn, helps us to focus on what we do want instead.
So it’s perfectly normal to come up against resistance occasionally, so don’t worry if it is happening to you. You can use it to reset your focus and decide exactly what you want to manifest in your life.
I would recommend that you use your manifestation journal to make a list of all the things that are blocking you from attracting the life that you want.
Identifying the problem is the first stage of being able to solve it. If you don’t recognize your resistance, it’s going to be really difficult to eradicate it.
Once you know what you are dealing with, you can start taking inspired action to break down the obstacles.
Here is a list of things you can do to overcome the resistance you are currently experiencing:
- Practice meditation regularly
- Ensure that you are getting enough sleep
- Use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT – Tapping)
- Do guided hypnosis
- Listen to subliminal audio tracks
- Do things that make you happy as they lift your mood
- Practice mindfulness
- Practice self-care and ensure that you get enough rest
- Pay attention and act upon the signs that the Universe gives you
“The difference between a stepping stone and a stumbling block is how high you raise your foot.“
Benny Lewis
Remember that resistance is temporary but can teach a valuable lesson that will help you get into the path that will lead you straight to the life you long for and deserve! Good luck.
