Written by MJ Ryan, SheEO Development Guide
Last week I wrote about how to use the physics of conscious creation as described by Robert Fritz to bring something into being. Specifically, how to keep our wanting strong and not be afraid of the gap between where we are and where we want to go. This week, I’d like to focus on another aspect of the Fritz model, specifically the notion of following the path of least resistance.
Fritz says that the energy for creation wants to follow the path of least resistance to resolve the tension between where you are and where you want to be. We interfere with this process when we try to get there by willpower, rather than experimenting and then stopping to notice where the path of least resistance leads. The Quakers call it looking for “way open” versus “way closed.” They believe God guides them by making things easy (way open) or hard (way closed). You are supposed to follow the open way. That’s how you know you are on the right path.
This is the heart of the Fritz process. Whenever we want to bring something into being, get into action and follow the path of least resistance rather than being sure you know how it’s going to happen.
This process is core to SheEO. Founder Vicki Saunders is an expert at this. She tries something and if it starts to work, we do more of it. If not, it’s quickly dropped and something else is tried. It’s what she means by “follow the energy,” one of SheEO’s principles. It can look haphazard or lacking persistence from the outside. Indeed, in looking for a graphic for the path of least resistance for this blog, most of what I found was about how it’s a negative strategy that creates laziness. But in reality, it creates a fluidity and adaptability that goes to the heart of entrepreneurial success. You never give up on the outcome you want, but you don’t get attached to the way to get there.
For those of us who are used to pushing hard to get what we want, this is a totally new way of behaving. It’s not about lying around and doing nothing. Rather you get into action and then ask, did that get us closer to our dream? Who is showing up and what opportunities are presenting themselves that we never thought of that we could try next? It requires not only action, but receptivity—what is emerging that we could tap into that we never thought of?
In the case of the entrepreneur I wrote about last week, it wasn’t investor money that fueled her next stage as she thought it had to be, but a grant from a big company that believed in the purpose of her social enterprise. If she had not been looking for the path of least resistance, she might have been so focused on a capital raise that she completely missed the opportunity of being given free money.
Want to put this into action? Look for the ways that are opening up, even if you never imagined things turning out this way. That’s the sure sign of the path of least resistance.
