Great Work is the work that matters most to you.
👋 Hi, I'm Dr. Amanda Crowell.
I'm a cognitive psychologist and the author of Great Work. I study one of the most frustrating contradictions in human behavior: why we resist doing the very things that matter most to us.
Procrastination. Perfectionism. Overthinking. Avoidance. Delaying. Self-sabotage.
These are all familiar ways we get in our own way. And they have something important in common: they replace productive failure (where you do it badly, but get better over time) with defensive failure (the failure of doing nothing, which gets you nowhere).
The more we understand what's driving this resistance, the more freedom we have to do the work that matters most to us.
🧠 LEARN MORE
What Is Resistance?
Why We Sabotage Our Great Work
You know what matters to you. You may even know exactly what you need to do next.
So why do you keep putting it off?
The answer lies in the psychology of resistance.
From procrastination and perfectionism to the competing commitments that keep us stuck, understanding resistance can change how we approach our Great Work.
Where Would You Like To Begin?
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Your Great Work Is Waiting (free course)
Discover the clues to your Great Work in this free, self-paced course. Explore what excites you, what matters most, and what you might be ready to bring into the world.
👉 Find Your Great WorkRead the Book
Discover what makes work meaningful, why we resist doing what matters most, and how to overcome the barriers that keep us stuck.
👉 Explore the BookTry the Journal
Make room for your Great Work with a simple daily practice that helps you clarify your priorities, stay connected to your vision, and keep moving forward.
👉 Explore the Journal -
Understand What's Keeping You Stuck
Explore the psychology of resistance, competing commitments, and defensive failure, and discover why we sometimes sabotage the work that matters most to us.
👉 Read the Resistance GuideJoin a Great Work Workshop
Join interactive workshops that help you rethink familiar challenges, experiment with new approaches, and bring more of your Great Work into your life.
👉 Explore Upcoming WorkshopsGet Coaching for Your Great Work
Work with Amanda to understand what's keeping you stuck, navigate competing commitments, and make meaningful progress on your Great Work.
👉 Explore Coaching -
Why Aren't You Promoting Your Great Work?
You know your ideas could help people. So why is it so hard to put yourself out there? Take the quiz to discover what's driving your resistance to visibility.
👉 Take the Visibility QuizExplore the Great Work Visibility Lab
Build an audience for your ideas, become known for your expertise, and create opportunities for your Great Work without relying on constant posting or performative self-promotion.
👉 Explore the Visibility Lab
ABOUT DR. AMANDA CROWELL
I help people discover, do, and share their Great Work without sacrificing everything else.
I'm a cognitive psychologist, author of Great Work, and a TEDx speaker with almost two million views. I teach at the Hunter College School of Education in New York City, and my work focuses on understanding what helps people pursue the work that matters most to them, overcome the psychological barriers that get in their way, and make a meaningful contribution to the world.
My work has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Al Jazeera, and Thrive Global.
Through books, keynotes, classes, and programs, I help people figure out what their Great Work is, make time and space to do it, and connect with the people who can help them bring it into the world.
THE CATALYST BLOG
Ideas To Support Your
Great Work Journey
“What happens when clarity meets consistency:
I read this book during a week I was feeling discouraged about how long it was taking to make progress on one of my big goals. The author does a great job of identifying many of the ways we hold ourselves back, and I love her model for how to break your vision into 90 day goals, a weekly task, and daily to dos. Lo and behold, before I had finished the book, one of my little actions had led to a big breakthrough!”