The Path of Least Resistance - Podcast Introduction

Stress doesn’t have to be stressful. In this first episode of The Path of Least Resistance, I explain the difference between destructive stress (fear, anxiety, regret) and productive stress (excitement, challenge, growth). You’ll learn why destructive stress always shows up as resistance, how to spot it in yourself, and how to begin regulating it.

I also share my own journey, from decades of daily Vedic Meditation to mentoring business owners and executives, and how these experiences shaped my approach to stress and success.

This episode sets the foundation for everything to come. Listen in, and get ready for episode two, where I’ll show you how Vedic Meditation takes you all the way to the path of no resistance.

You can find me here:

BrettJarman.com (Vedic Meditation and Mentoring enquries): https://brettjarman.com

The Meditation People (Vedic Meditation courses): https://themeditationpeople.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brettjarman/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@brett.jarman

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettjarman/

Chapters

• 0:00 Stress Doesn't Have to be Stressful
• 1:18 Less Reactive, More Responsive
• 3:49 Vedic Meditation - The Path to NO Resitance
• 6:18 Choose Your Path of Least Resistance

Transcript

0:00

Wouldn't it be good if stress didn't have to be stressful? Well, I've got good news for you. It doesn't have to be stressful. Even though for a lot of people"stressed out" has become their default state, often it's not because they've got too much stress, it's because they've got the wrong type of stress. Allow me to explain. So there's the type of stress, I call it destructive stress. That's the kind of stress that keeps you up at night, wakes you up early in the morning, has you trapped in things like doubt, fear, anxiety, it clouds your decision making, maybe even ruins your relationships, tampers with your health, all of those kinds of things. That's destructive stress. But there's also productive stress. Productive stress is that kind of stress you have when you're trying something new, when you are taking risks, taking on new challenges. So you might be starting a new relationship, starting a new job, a new business, or launching a new product, trying something new. Those are examples of productive stress. It's exciting, it's challenging, it's a little bit stressful, but it's not really harmful as such. And this is what we want to get. We want to get to a state where we've got just the right amount of productive stress and zero, or almost zero, destructive stress. And this is what I call the path of least resistance. Hence the name of the podcast. So, why do I call it the path of least resistance. What does resistance have to do with stress? Destructive stress always shows up as resistance. So for example, you might be resisting the present and that might show up in the form of disappointment, anger, frustration, boredom, all of those kinds of things. That's resistance showing up. You might be resisting something that happened in your past and that will show up as things like guilt, shame, regret. Or you might be resisting something that might happen in the future, not something that will happen, 'cause we can never be sure what will happen. But when we're resisting something that might happen in the future, that's gonna show up as fear, anxiety, worry, doubt, indecisiveness, all of those kinds of things. So the path of least resistance is when we are minimising those kinds of feelings, those kinds of emotions, those kinds of thoughts, and we're maximising the thoughts that come with productive stress. So that's excitement, joy, exhilaration, fulfillment, all of those kinds of things. So essentially, this is what the path of least resistance is all about. But how do we get there?"How do we solve this? Because all this, all this destructive stress that I'm experiencing, it's caused by all the things outside of me." So what we're gonna be talking about is how you can regulate destructive stress. And what I mean by that is minimising the amount of destructive stress that you're taking on, and it's more about what's happening internally rather than what's happening outside. So helping you become more responsive to situations rather than becoming reactive to those situations. But it's also about getting rid of destructive stress that's stored in the body. So you've got decades of destructive stress stored in your physiology right now. It's stored there biochemically. So we want to, part of our regulation process, regulating destructive stress, is getting rid of that and being able to process the day-to-day stress in real time. And it's also about getting you back on the productive stress I guess bandwagon or whatever, productive stress cycle if you like. Now, hopefully you've had a time in your life where you've had a lot of productive stress. You might have started a new job or a new business or taken on something new and you were kind of exhilarated by that challenge. And hopefully you've had that for an extended period of time. If not, then the path of least resistance will help you experience that. Now, why should you listen to me? Well, you shouldn't, and to be honest, my goal is to help you become self-sufficient so you don't have to listen to me or any other podcasts like me or study any other teachers or whatever. I wanna get you to the point where you are on your own path of least resistance in the shortest possible time. Now, having said that, I do have some credentials that are helpful as far as this goes. Number one, I am a teacher of Vedic Meditation. I've been practicing Vedic Meditation every single day for the last 34, maybe even 35 years, and I now teach that technique to other people. I've been to India, studied the technique, and I've been endorsed, basically, and even instructed to go out in the real world and teach it to others. Now, you might be rolling your eyes at this point thinking, "Oh, if it involves meditation, I'm out. I can't meditate. I've tried it before and it didn't work." To be honest, that's like saying, "I tried grapefruit and I don't like fruit." There are thousands, millions of different types of meditation, and if you think you can't meditate, it's only because either, a) you haven't tried the right type, or b) you haven't been taught correctly. And I'm gonna be talking about Vedic Meditation and a lot of detail, and I will put all your concerns about meditation to rest. I can promise you that. In fact, the next episode is going to be all about Vedic Meditation, and it's all about the path of no resistance, the path to no resistance. This is what Vedic Meditation can do for you. But I'll talk a little bit more about that later. Now, the other thing that qualifies me to speak on the subject, I'm a businessman. I've worked for myself pretty much since I was 19. That was the last time I had a "real job." I've owned several businesses. I've consulted with hundreds of businesses, business owners, in Australia and around the world. I've consulted with executives, professionals, all types of people, organisations, everywhere, and over that time, I've had a lot of experience and I now put that experience to work as a mentor for other professionals, executives, and business owners. And between the mentoring and the meditation and my own experience, creating my own path of least resistance, that's what qualifies me to speak on the subject. You know, you judge for yourself. Watch this episode, and I urge you to watch the next one. The next one is probably the most important one. That's gonna get you 80% of the way there to creating your own path of least resistance. Everything after that, you're gonna get incremental improvements, but the next one's the most important one. So, obviously meditation is part of my methodology, but it's not the whole thing. There'll be other things, which I'll talk about in future episodes. But just to reassure you, I'm not gonna be prescribing affirmations. I'm not gonna be inviting you to play mind games to fix your mindset or adjust your belief systems or anything like that. I've got pretty contrarian views when it comes to those sorts of things, which you might find, hopefully you'll find them refreshing and hopefully you'll find them useful, and they might sort of help you clear some roadblocks in terms of creating your own path of least resistance. But you know, we've got plenty of time to talk about that in future episodes. As I said, the most important episode to listen to is the next one. That's actually ready for you. Now, you can go and listen to that or watch it, whatever your preference is, and then at the end of that, if you choose to join me for future episodes, you'd be most welcome. But either way, my invitation to you is choose your path of least resistance and see where it takes you. Bye for now.