These are not normal times, and they won't return to normal anytime soon. No matter how many times we may say the phrase "new normal."  

None of us have remotely adjusted to the long term changes we are implementing in our lives, work, and relationships. 

One way COVID has changed my business for the better is by leading me to change some of the questions I ask my team during our daily slack stand-ups. 

The last question typically asked at the end a stand-up, and I'm sure, many daily stand-ups in across teams, would be; do you have any obstacles?

But I wanted my team to know I didn't just want to know about their work; I wanted to know about them and their relationship with their work. 

How could their relationship with work not change as we walk through a pandemic, radical racial injustice, harmful political rhetoric, changes in finances in an unstable economy, loss of some of our most significant leaders, partners losing jobs, worrying, and carrying for vulnerable parents? 

The list goes on and on. 

Now I have I added to that : 

Have you hit any areas of Resistance?

What does Resistance look like in those moments?

Do you have any recurring moments of Resistance?

How can I support you in working through those moments of Resistance?

The War of Art profoundly impacted me as an entrepreneur,  deconstructing my self sabotaging tendencies and my growth mindset.

Steven Pressfield, the author of The War of Art, describes Resistance as "the dark force that gets in the way of you doing your most important work. It takes an infinite amount of forms (procrastination, sex, drugs, self-medication, self-doubt, victimhood, criticism, fear, and so on…)"

Resistance in 2020 hits me in familiar and new ways. Often as an attack on my purpose. Maybe not in the moments when I am front and center with a client working in my zone of genius and meaning. 

It comes when i need to work on my business—getting posts like this out there.  How can I work on this when the world is on fire? 

It is both a valid question, but it's often my subconscious seeking a way out of the awkwardness in compellingly structuring my thoughts. 

The writing discipline still uncomfortable, and the idea of consistently sharing my words even more toe-pinching. 

Answering these questions:

Have you hit any areas of Resistance?

What does Resistance look like in those moments?

Do you have any recurring moments of Resistance?

How can I support you in working through those moments of Resistance?

It has helped me view my daily productivity and effectiveness with the discipline and compassion, I need not only for 2020 but as a founder trying to build big and impactful things. 

So I'll ask you the same thing I ask my team. How can I support you in working through your moments of Resistance? 

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