Resistance comes with living your purpose

In a recent keynote address, Carol Cox suggested resistance comes with living your purpose. Resistance or tension comes with anything worth having and that includes living the truth of our purpose.

October 2021 Favorites files

As I do at the end of each month, I am sharing thoughts, ideas, and concepts that rose to the top in terms of what I’ve learned this month. This month I was a power podcast listener – five Marketing Book Podcast episodes, a couple Happier with Gretchen Rubin, a few Speaking Your Brand with Carol Cox and a couple of other random shows add to the mix.

But it was a Speaking Your Brand episode that inspired the primary focus of this episode. Carol suggests that living our purpose comes with resistance and tension. And if we are not feeling one of those maybe we need to dig deeper into our search for purpose.

Internal and external resistance

Resistance can come in internal and external forms. External examples might come from others criticizing or judging you and the way you lean into your purpose. Internal are obstacles we put in front of ourselves such as imposter syndrome, perfectionism, or people-pleasing.

As we become more aligned with our true selves and our purpose, those around us may feel as though we are changing and becoming someone different. While you are feeling more alive, they are seeing a change, one that may or may not be welcomed. Our relationships will either grow with us or we outgrow them. The same happens with business. As a business grows and evolves, becoming more clear and confident in its purpose, the relationships it had with clients, customers, and vendors will also change – some may no longer fit. The business may feel resistance to its evolution and may even pause or hesitate as a result.