The Path of No Resistance: Why Overcoming is Simpler than You Think

by Garret Kramer

A FRESH TAKE ON THE INBORN CHARACTERISTIC OF RESILIENCE

Most people are convinced that the key to rising above a perceived problem is to think about it, analyze all angles, and try hard to solve it. But the fact is: Problems in the world are mounting. War, famine, and strife exist at alarming rates. Not to mention that the level of respect within our families and communities seems to be fraying.

Simply put, our behavior is not up to par these days; it is spiraling downward. Why? We’re not connecting the dots. In the arenas of psychology, teaching, coaching, and parenting, we’re using behavioral strategies to boost inner levels of clarity and consciousness—to no avail.

So, if focusing on behavior isn’t working, what will?

The Path of No Resistance provides a brand-new look at how human beings really overcome adversity. Along the way, Garret Kramer reveals the astonishing truth about what creates our troubles in the first place. And what we already know, deep down, that allows us to prosper in spite of any circumstance or situation.

Offering an array of examples, Kramer demonstrates that resilience and contentment are—in principle—innate to everyone. He insists that calculated self-help methods are not the answer, and explains why insight, not intellect, is what fuels our ability to excel and give back to others.

This book will change the way you approach any predicament in your life. It shows you why today’s experts are missing the mark, and just how simple it is to turn mountains into molehills—and thrive.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Self Help, Spirituality, Sports

277 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2014

About the author

Garret Kramer is the founder and managing partner of Inner Sports, LLC. A former collegiate ice hockey player, Garret is credited with bringing the principles of mind, consciousness, and thought to the athletic community at large. He has worked iwth hundreds of athletes and coaches, including Olympians, the NHL and NFL, and collegiate players across a multitude of sports. His work has been featured on WFAN New York, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.

Reviews

[Shante · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a pleasant and necessary read. The author uses practical sports references to make his message relatable. The premise in this book is everything we feel is a result of our own thoughts. Further, thinking is always in flux so our feelings are always fleeting. Thoughts are just thoughts until we give energy to them and outside circumstances mean nothing. In order to succeed we must allow ourselves, and our thoughts, to just be.

While reading this book I felt like I was talking to an old friend. The tone of the book is very laid back and warm, yet direct. The teachings of this book are much easier said than put into practice: our thoughts create our reality and simply letting our thoughts be without overthinking or judging makes life easier for us. However, after reading the text in its entirety I leave with a greater understanding of the concept and feel more equipped to take control of my life.

A few memorable quotes:

“You create your perception and experience of life from the inside-out, not the outside-in.”

“Trying to replace negative thoughts with positive ones doesn’t get rid of negativity—it energizes it.”

“Everyone is doing the best they can to the degree that they see the role of thought in their life.”

“Any judgment, theory, assumption, or belief that comes from your ability to think is not real. Love is the only thing that doesn’t come from your ability to think. Love is the only thing that’s real.”

“Peace of mind is not a state of perpetual bliss. It’s knowing that when you feel low, there’s nothing to fret about; nothing is broken.”

The 7 things to remember on the path of least resistance:

1. You cannot control your thinking.
2. Keep goal setting in perspective. (Don't get too attached to one train of thought.)
3. External circumstances are neutral.
4. Your reality is created from the inside-out.
5. Your feelings are your guide. (When you feel off, your thinking is off.)
6. From a low mood, distrust your thinking.
7. Stay in the game.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Path of No Resistance purports to hold the key to achieving a more successful, productive, and satisfying life. To Garrett Kramer the one thing that you must do in order to be successful is to stop thinking. If you can quiet your mind, you'll be more in tune with your emotions, and if you're more in tune with your emotions than your mind will automatically reset any negative feelings you have. That's the essence of the book.

While I think that he has a good point when it comes to clearing away negative thoughts, I don't think this advice is the best for people suffering from mood disorders or dealing with toxic relationships. For minor issues, however, the advice is good. You can generally communicate more clearly and from a better spot if you're calm, and the bulk of bad performance in sport seems to come from thinking too much.

The low rating then, is not entirely due to the message. The low rating mainly comes from the fact that I didn't enjoy the way the book was written. It was scattered with anecdotes that were either redundant or not terrifically helpful. The book felt repetitive more than much else, and several grammatical errors really grated on me: most strongly, the use of the phrase "I could care less." It isn't that difficult to correct to "couldn't."

I did enjoy the formatting, however. The use of summaries and bullet points halfway through the chapter and again at the end helped to drive home the points made. I just wish there had been more points, overall.

Finally, I thought the inclusion of a rather large selection of quotes in the Appendix was questionable at best and self-congratulatory at worst.

[Andrus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not particularly easy to read, I’d even say it’s not written too well. Examples seem forced and arbitrary at times, for example. 3 stars, maybe 4.

But this book contains one clear and highly practical idea about using one’s own intuition, and this has already proven useful to me. Which makes this book better than 99% other books and it deserves at least 6 or 7 stars.

Hence 5 stars, average of the two dimensions.

[Shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The more self-help books I read, the firmer I hold the conclusion that the Stoic philosophers and cognitive psychologists had it right: you are what you think. Your own thoughts have an immediacy that makes you believe them and act on them. But they're rarely clear, accurate or complete.

[Ravi Raman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book that offers a counterintuitive path to success in sports and life. The ideas presented in the book are life changing. However, for some reason, the book itself didn't "grip" me or interest me as much as others, thus the three-star review. It was very repetitive. I do recommend reading it, particularly if you are an athlete or coach looking to create a breakthrough for yourself or others.

[Nathan Holm · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well written book on a topic vital to us all to understand our thought-feeling connections. Garret Kramer does a great job of clearly laying out the simplicity found in understanding our the connection between our thoughts and our feelings and the lack of impact our circumstances have.

I particularly loved his application for leaders and recommend this book for all leaders, coaches and parents.

[Brian Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful

This was an easy book to read, but I can't say I completely understand it... yet. But by adopting what I do sense as an "inside-out" approach to my daily life experience AND to the FLOW philosophy I want to popularize I can see immediate positive results... in my frame of mind. It's helped me to see and embrace my whole self-restoring innate mental health.

Looking forward to learning more and sharing forward.

[Praveen Kumar Singhmar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ordinary. Couldn't sift through.

[Telly Zheng · Rating 3 out of 5]

a bit repetitive,

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seemed to be a somewhat fuzzy compendium of anecdotal evidence, mindfulness based cognitive therapy, meditation lite and a bit of neuroscience. I didn't love the author's writing style, and I think that the idea that your 'thoughts/feelings are your own fault' line of inquiry can be dangerous for those who are truly depressed or find themselves in the middle of a severe depression. Telling someone with suicidal thoughts that they just need to change their thinking won't help, and can, in fact, be dangerous.

Which is not to say that neuroscience hasn't come to the same conclusions that Kramer has - your thoughts do influence your outlook, and you can make yourself happier by thinking happy thoughts -- but I don't think this can be applied with a broad brush to everyone.

However, much of what Kramer writes about can be applied to sports, which is what he does for a living - and so I think this book will have much more impact on those who coach, or work in the sports industry.

An interesting book, just not for me.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

[Donna Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of self-help books out there and I admit it, I find them fascinating, who knows, maybe I'm looking for answers so when I saw this book available, for free, from Netgalley, just a honest review as payment, I thought, another chance to find answers. The author doesn't have a lot of new stuff to say, but he does have an intriguing way of explaining things. Adversity hits everyone at one time or another, some more than others, but it's not about what hits you, but how you overcome what hits you. This book is about overcoming adversity. The author believes insight, not intellect fuels our ability to do well despite adversity and to give back to others. Kramer feels that resilience and also contentment are in us all, in principle, that we need to think less, feel more, tune your emotions, and quiet your mind. Not only is this well-written, it reminds us that it doesn't matter how many times you fall down, it matters how many times you get back up...and there's no time limit on when you get back up. True or not, Kramer is persuasive in making a reader feel as though overcoming is simpler than they think.

[Paul Franco · Rating 3 out of 5]

A self-help book that espouses the philosophy that looking from within is more important than living your life according to outside criterion. It’s intriguing when he notes “There is no connection between performance and positive thinking,” which will no doubt set some people howling. There are examples from sports as well as real life, things everyone can relate to. Plenty to think about here—though that’s exactly what he doesn’t want you to do—with some ideas that might work, but I’m not convinced. . . yet. 3.5/5

[Pam Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A most interesting book to read about living on the feeling of thinking and how in all situations life changes. about the principles of mind, consciousness and thought, about retaining inner peace, looking within, stripping away outside influences and reprogramming yourself back to inner wisdom and principles and the truth;

[venkatrmana, t.r.g · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing to practice, but great understanding. Amazing.

Just thought reading another book on spiritual wisdom. But it in the much better clarity and understanding with ample live example. Great feeling with nothing to think about. Lovely.

[Eerika · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazingly inspirational.

[lee vallely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truth hurts

Although I am still waiting for the penny to drop, this book has really given me an insight into how the mind works. Now I’m going to take a lifetime to practice