The Universe Isn’t Telling You to Quit—Resistance Is Just Kicking Your Ass

The Dip, Resistance, and Why Most Men Never Make It

He sat across from me, head down, voice heavy.

“I think the universe is telling me to stop,” he said.
“The doors aren’t opening. Maybe this just isn’t meant to be.”

Let me tell you something I told him—something every man needs to hear, especially when he’s standing on the edge of something hard:

That voice might not be the universe.
It might be Resistance.

And that wall you’re hitting?
That’s not the end of the road.
That’s what Seth Godin calls The Dip.

The Dip is the unavoidable chasm between starting something and succeeding at it.
It’s built into the system.
It’s where things get hard.
It’s where dreams go to die.

Every business. Every book. Every marriage. Every man.
At some point, you hit The Dip.
And most men—good men—turn back.

I know because I’ve done it.

Over the last ten years, I’ve launched over a half dozen startups.
Some were dead-on-arrival.
Bad ideas, bad timing, bad fit.
No shame in it. They were never going to work. I let them go.

But the painful truth?

Others could’ve worked.
Should’ve worked.
But I let Resistance convince me that The Dip was a dead end, not a passage.

There was the technology recruitment startup with a mission that mattered.
There was the cannabis company we eventually sold—but could’ve scaled.
There was a social justice platform five years ahead of its time.

Every one of them hit the same wall:
No traction.
No momentum.
No signs from the heavens.

And I’d hear that whisper:
“It’s not meant to be.”
“You’re forcing it.”

“You’re not good enough to make it happen.”
“Maybe this is the universe telling you to give up and do something else.”

But that wasn’t the universe.
That was Resistance.

Meet the Enemy: Resistance

And here’s where we go deeper—because The Dip, as Godin defines it, is neutral.
It doesn’t care if you win or lose. It’s just structural.
It weeds out the uncommitted.

But Resistance?
That’s different.

That’s a force with teeth.
That’s not passive. It’s personal.

Steven Pressfield named it for what it truly is:
A malevolent, shape-shifting saboteur whose entire mission is to stop you from becoming who you’re meant to be.

“Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work.
It will perjure. It will fabricate.
It will lie.
Resistance is always lying and always full of shit.”
— Steven Pressfield, The War of Art

Resistance isn’t just fear or procrastination.
It’s an intelligent force.
It will study you.
It will mimic your voice.
It will sound rational.
Even spiritual.

It will say:

“Be realistic.”
“Wait for the right time.”
“Don’t embarrass yourself.”

“You don’t have what it takes.”

Sometimes it screams in your ear, causing you to slam on the brakes. Other times—it slides up beside you, smiling, seducing you, and convincing you to change course.

Either way, if you don’t know how to spot it and stand guard against it-
It will own you.

But There’s Another Force: Assistance

Here’s the good news:

You are not alone.

If Resistance has a hard-on to destroy you,
Assistance has a divine obsession to see you rise.

Call it Assistance, call it grace, flow, spirit, alignment—whatever works for you.

It’s real.
It’s subtle.
And it’s powerful.

It’s the force that shows up after you start.

You’ve felt it before:

• That friend who randomly calls when you’re about to give up.

• That flash of inspiration after hours of creative fog.

• That book that falls into your lap at the exact right time.

• That mentor, that opportunity, that quiet clarity that wasn’t there before.

• That gritty resolve that bubbles up from deep within you.

“When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set in motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to our aid.”
— Steven Pressfield

But don’t get it twisted—Assistance doesn’t lead.
It follows.
You move first.
Then it moves with you.

So What Do You Do?

You stop waiting for a sign.
You stop looking for an exit.
You dig in.
You push through.
You go to war.

You don’t flinch.
You don’t fold.
You don’t romanticize Resistance.
You recognize it, name it, and swing anyway.

Because this is the work:

To know when something’s dead.
To know when it’s just The Dip.
To stand firm while Resistance rages.
To trust that Assistance is coming.
To act—even when you’re scared, unsure, or exhausted.

Most men quit.
A few men pause.
Kings push through.

You Want to Push Through the Dip?

You want to kick Resistance in the balls?
You want to claw your way through the fog and step into the fire of your purpose?

Then you better figure out your WHY.

Why are you doing this?
Why must you do this?
What are you willing to sacrifice to see it through?

Because that’s the difference between a man who dabbles and a man who reigns.
That’s the difference between the pawn and the King.

That’s what it means to be a King.

Not comfort.
Not safety.
But purpose.
Conviction.
Willingness to bleed for what matters most.