Alright, first off, let me explain what rebelling against yourself means.

It’s that little voice in your head that tells you to not do something you don’t like. Sounds simple, but what if that thing you “don’t like” is something you really want to do?

The example given in this article is drawing. Say you love drawing, you take classes, and you practice. But later on it becomes a chore. The practice of drawing becomes another task on your to-do list. At this point your inner-rebel starts telling you to stop practicing.

And now you’re back to square one. Only now you hate drawing. This rebelliousness usually comes from people with a non-conformist attitude. I definitely see this in myself.

So this article offers a 2-step solution. The first step is to identify your problem and the second step involves reshaping your mindset in regards to your goals. Learn to take the pressure off and love accomplishing your goals once again.

How to Not Be Anti-You

by Jonathan from IlluminatedMind

Do you like bullets in your foot?

It really hurts when you shoot yourself in the foot. Especially when you keep doing it over and over.

And over.

I see this happen all the time with people with a rebel, nonconformist kind of mindset. It’s typical for these types of people to sabotage their own efforts and start rebelling against themselves. (I’m one of these types of people, in case you haven’t guessed yet.)

Here’s an example of the way this typically works:

You start something you’ve really wanted to do for a long time. Maybe you’ve always wanted to learn how to draw. So you sign up for a class, and you’re really digging it. You’re getting better and drawing all kinds of awesome stuff. Maybe you even come up with a tattoo design for yourself. Sweet.

Then a few weeks later the class ends and you’re still going. But since you’re the type of person that wants to really master something, you start this mental arithmetic of requiring yourself to practice drawing. You want to get better, right? So you practice, and you’re excited.

Then something not-so-good happens. You don’t practice one day and you feel like shit. You beat yourself up over it and now you’re not so sure you’re “disciplined enough” to practice mastering your craft. (You don’t realize that you can establish new habits without discipline.)

But you keep going anyway; you keep practicing. And then you start judging yourself, not when you miss a day of practice or play, but when you don’t practice long enough. You think you could do more. You think an hour’s not enough, because that one guy from your class draws all-the-time. And look at you, you’re not doing it all-the-time so you must not be dedicated, right? Or so you think.

What used to be something you pursued because it was fun and enjoyable, is now a chore. It’s now something you must do.

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