The Path of Resistance: The Highway to Success

What is something that can set you apart? How can you be truly unique? When I turn this question over in my mind, I keep returning to one very simple mantra, a mantra that anyone can embrace. That mantra is this: take the path of most resistance.

I say this because when you look at nature, when you look at life, when you observe what happens naturally, everything follows the path of least resistance. Water flows downhill. A stone falls. A rock rolls along the slope. None of these things pause to ask, “Is this right? Is this wrong? Is this golden and elite, or is that shoddy and bad?” No such considerations exist. The flow simply takes the easiest route. This is the law of nature, and it governs not only the inanimate world but the animate one as well. When a deer runs from a predator, its calculations are for the path of least resistance. When a tiger hunts, it chooses the easiest prey. Even in chemistry, the principle holds: a sodium molecule would far rather react with chlorine or fluorine than attempt to form a complex with something much more inert, like iron or iodine. The path of least resistance is, without question, a fundamental law of nature.

So what sets us apart? What could set us apart? It is when we choose to go completely different. It is when we take the path of maximum resistance. In doing so, we first demonstrate that we are unique. We are not taking the easy road; we are taking something difficult. And in taking something difficult, we stand out. People begin to notice us. They look up to us. They see us as separate, as remarkable.

Let me illustrate this with an example close to home. Think about how people speak of their mother tongue. In India, you will often find Tamilians who do not want to learn Hindi, and they say it is because they respect their own language. You will find Hindi speakers who do not want to learn Tamil or Telugu, and they too say it is out of respect for their mother tongue. But if you ask the honest question—is it really respect, or is it that they do not want to put in the effort to learn something new?—the answer becomes obvious. They do not want to learn a new language because learning a new language requires effort. It requires time. It requires you to go against the flow. You have already mastered one mode of communication, and now you must start again from scratch, building an entirely new system of words and grammar in your mind. That is the real reason people resist. And then they justify it: “We are comfortable in our own place. This is our home; let us speak our language.” They even expect outsiders to learn their tongue, so that communication becomes easy for them. They do not want to put in the effort to understand the outsider; they want the outsider to take the effort to speak their language. It is always about pushing the effort onto someone else.

This is how it is, whether you look at nature—where the stone and the water take the path of least resistance—or at human beings. I do not want to adjust to someone from a different culture because I do not want to invest the energy to understand that culture. And so we see these fights erupting constantly: between religions, between languages, between ethnicities. The conflict is not really about dislike or hatred. It is about the key principle, the most important thing: the path of resistance. Nobody wants to take it.

But what happens to someone who does? Let me share an example that has shaped my own understanding. I look at my son, Om. He has learned so many languages. He knows Marathi, Hindi, English, a little Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and even some sign language. And he is still keen to learn more: Gujarati, French. Now, what I have observed is this. When he interacts with people, he does something remarkable. If he meets someone speaking Tamil, he tries to communicate in Tamil. When we visited Bombay, he attempted to speak Marathi, and people were genuinely happy to see someone making the effort to understand them in their own tongue. When he goes to Chennai, he fumbles through Tamil, and even though his grammar is imperfect and his vocabulary limited, people light up. They see that this person is trying. He is taking the trouble to speak their language. The same thing happens in Andhra Pradesh: he attempts Telugu, he stumbles, he uses the wrong word, and then he smiles, laughs it off, and asks, “Can you tell me the right word?” And they laugh together, a hearty, warm laugh. In that moment, a connection forms. I have seen it happen again and again.

This is what I have come to understand. Wherever Om goes, he tries genuinely to connect with people. And because of that, people begin to accept him. They begin to like him. In our own neighborhood, so many people ask, “Where is Om? Where is Om?” And I have often wondered, what makes Om special? The answer is simple: he is ready to put in effort. He is ready to learn something for your sake. He is willing to take the path of high resistance. That is the key learning here. If you can take the path of maximum resistance for the sake of others, you will be appreciated. You will be loved. You will be cared for. And this effort conveys something profound to the other person: this person is dependable. This person is reliable. This person is an asset. He is unique. He is not like the average.

And here is a curious truth. Most people want to be average themselves, but they do not want to be surrounded by average people. They want to be in touch with those who are not average. That is why the masses—ordinary people behaving in ordinary ways—still flock to film stars and celebrities. They wait in line for a signature, hoping to touch someone who is extraordinary. They want a connection with greatness. And when they encounter a person who is not average, someone who is willing to put in effort, to work for a connection, to do whatever it takes to reach them, they automatically feel a bond. That is the power of taking the road less traveled.

So what have I learned? The path of least resistance is a natural tendency. I would even call it an animalistic tendency. To be human is to fight that flow. Yes, we are still driven by the pull of least resistance; it is ingrained in us. But how do we begin to embrace the path of resistance as well? How do we learn to enjoy the road less traveled?

There is a book by M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled, that sheds light on this very principle. It speaks to the importance of taking the path that others do not walk, and how that choice can not only set you apart but also make your life more meaningful for yourself and more useful for others.

The path of most resistance is not easy. It is not comfortable. It requires effort, patience, and the humility to stumble and smile and try again. But it is the path that leads to connection, to trust, and to genuine uniqueness. It is the path that makes you not just another stone rolling downhill, but someone who chooses to climb. And in that choice, you become unforgettable.