Recently, I found myself stymied by a series of tasks. But I didn’t think I needed help because I knew how to do the tasks. I just wasn’t doing them. My narrative was that the problem I needed to solve was my procrastination.

I felt bad about it, which increased the negative energy around the tasks, which made them harder to approach, which made me put them off, and then I felt worse.

Last week, I was talking with a friend who offered to help with some of the onerous items on my to-do list. It was a simple thing – she has expertise that I lack, she’s interested in building some new skills, and she offered to help with something that would take her much less time and effort than it would take me.

Of course, I said yes. I was surprised by the extent of my relief. And then I realized that I had been wrong about what was happening. I wasn’t procrastinating. I was stuck. I was at an emotional impasse and didn’t know it. I didn’t lack capacity, I needed company.

I often talk about honoring our resistance by getting curious about what might be keeping us from making a decision, taking an action, or completing a task. Because I wasn’t identifying my stalling as resistance, I didn’t get curious about it at first. If I’m honoring my resistance, what do I find?

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