You buy a new part for your car, you get your tools together, you get in and get to work.

…Two hours later. Somehow, every inch of your body is covered in black. Your arms are tired from digging into the depths of your car and your eyes have gotten so many things in them that you decided to fix the car blind half an hour ago. You are fine. You knew this wasn’t going to be easy. You finally get to the part you need to change. You begin unscrewing the bolts on the part. You get to the last one and begin to loosen. It’s tight, you apply a bit more pressure, and all of a sudden *SNAP!*

The bolt broke and your hand slipped. You slam your knuckles into the side of the frame and cut the back of your hand.

You now have: a bloody hand, a part that won’t come off because of one bolt, another part (the one it was fastened to) that will now have to be replaced in order to use all the bolt holes, a car that doesn’t work due to the part being disconnected, and no ability to drive and get a new part.

What was a big, but manageable job, just became a much more extreme situation. Was it because the engine quit? Was it because the transmission went out? No. It was because one small bolt broke.

So often, we feel that we have everything handled. We’re working on a big project, but we take all the obstacles thrown at us and just keep on moving. Then, out of nowhere, we trip on a tiny stone.

This hit me today as I was working on getting my first podcast episode online. I had put a ton of work into getting it ready, was doing the final prep to post it through Libsyn, and all of a sudden I realized that I needed to write show notes for the episode. This was such a small thing, but it was the last thing that I wanted to do. On top of writing blog posts every day, I have been writing emails and other content constantly as well. The last thing I wanted to do was write more. Especially on something that I had already put so much work into. I thought I was done with it. I wanted to just post it and move on to the next thing.

It’s important to be ready for these things when they pop up. Don’t let them demoralize you. This is the resistance that is going to really try and get that last hold on you and prevent you from accomplishing your goals. You have to fight through that desire to just give up or finish with a mediocre job. Finish strong, and kick the little road blocks out of your way, just like you did the big ones at the beginning.