Personal Accountability vs. Resistance: The War of Art

Accountability: anything or anyone that helps us gain mental leverage to achieve the results we desire.

—The Accountability Stop

We’ve talked about many Accountability* techniques for unlocking the mental leverage to work on our projects. But what is it we need leverage against? What is the huge mental weight we’re lifting? Steven Pressfield calls it Resistance.

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

—Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

The War of Art

Steven Pressfield wrote The War of Art in 2002. It isn’t so much a book as it is a treatise and manifesto on recognizing and overcoming Resistance. Resistance is Mr. Pressfield’s representation of writer’s block, procrastination, laziness, and all the other forms of mental gamesmanship that keep us from doing what we truly want to do. The War of Art looks at all the different forms that Resistance can take—the different voices in our head that tell us why we shouldn’t work on our art—and how to call out and defeat those voices. 

You should read The War of Art. Period. I don’t care who you are. If you have any inkling of making your life different than it is currently, then you need to understand Resistance. Mr. Pressfield makes the case that overcoming Resistance is among the most important things that humans can do. Untold oceans of human misery and stress exist because we’re continually defeated by Resistance. Many of us don’t even realize that it exists.

Personal Accountability, in my opinion, is the best method to overcome Resistance in all its forms. When we employ the right Accountability, we diffuse and defang the Resistance that opposes our project.

Redirect Fear

Resistance has no strength of its own. Every ounce of juice it possesses comes from us. We feed it with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.

—Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Accountability uses a similar, sneaky tactic in our favor. When we find the right Accountability, our fear is shifted from Resistance to whatever or to whomever we are accountable. It may sound silly to us, but in a sense it’s true. I hate to miss a workout because I hate to disappoint my coach. Will he be mad or get angry with me? No, but I still fear my mental image of letting someone down. That mental leverage shifts my fear away from Resistance and aims fear in the direction of my goal.

That’s why I think Accountability is such an important topic to discuss and address. Since Accountability is a primary method to combat Resistance, then understanding and using Accountability is important for us to live more fulfilling lives. 

• When we have an Accountability buddy or group, we can talk about Resistance explicitly. It’s a common theme in discussions I have with my AB: “Is anything blocking you?”
• We can make an appointment with ourselves and give ourselves permission to ignore Resistance during that time. 
• We can announce our goal to the world so every time Resistance comes up, we can say to ourselves, “I told everyone I would accomplish this.” 
• If we journal for Accountability, then we can also call out Resistance and put a spotlight on it. “I see you there, Resistance. And I’m ignoring you.”

(I searched my ebook copy of The War of Art for variations of the word “Accountability.” Surprisingly, Accountability is never referenced by Mr. Pressfield.)

So Close, So Far?

The danger is greatest when the finish line is in sight. At this point, Resistance knows we’re about to beat it. It hits the panic button. It marshals one last assault and slams us with everything it’s got.

—Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

I can personally attest the truth of Mr. Pressfield’s statement. I wrote recently about putting on my own show at a Fringe festival. These are direct quotes from my journal a month before the show:

“I’m just afraid that even if we get everything right for the show, people will still think it’s stupid. Is this even going to work at all? Am I doing too much? Too little? Is it … worth doing at all?” 

“[I’m] concerned the whole show could fall apart. [I’m] concerned everyone thinks it’s dumb. And bound to fail. Ugh.”

Resistance was getting desperate to stop my show, to make me slink back to my comfortable, normal routine and not take the risk that I might fail … or succeed. Luckily I recognized the thoughts as Resistance and kept on going—because I had too many people counting on it happening. Because I had created too much Accountability to stop.

Soul Purpose

Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.

—Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

This may be the greatest argument for bringing Accountability into our lives. The Resistance within us is most vigorously opposed to the evolution of our very soul—the reason we’re on this earth. To be the people we’re intended to be, we must find Accountability that pushes us past Resistance, pushes us out of our comfort zone, and pushes us into the “unlived life within us.”

What’s Your Account?

Have you recognized Resistance in your own life? How have you dealt with it? Can Accountability help?

*Mr. Pressfield made Resistance more identifiable with a capital “R.” I decided to do the same for Accountability for the purposes of this article.