Subtitled: “Overcome resistance and get out of your own way”
Last October, when I focused on creativity books for the month, I reviewed Steven Pressfield’s classic: The War of Art. This is a continuation of the themes he introduced there, but can absolutely stand on its own.
So what are the themes Pressfield covers? It’s all in the subtitle – resistance and how to get out of our own way.
Resistance is the force we all deal with as we work towards creating anything, but especially something which falls in line with our calling or purpose. This thing could be a creating a book (something Pressfield does for a living – most notably The Legend of Bagger Vance and The Gates of Fire) but it can also be creating a painting, a garden, a business.
Resistance also shows up when we start new and meaningful regimens such as an course to learn something, a nutrition plan, and even taking a stand in the face of adversity. As he says right on page 5: any action that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health or integrity… will bring out resistance.
Resistance in our mind sounds like fear, self-doubt, procrastination, distraction, addiction, ego, perfectionism – anything which gets in the way of us going for that long-term growth.
Once Pressfield gives us the signs of resistance, he gives us this amazing kick-in-the-seat pep talk for dealing with it. He actually covers that in more detail in The War of Art so in this book he spends more time helping us actually do the work we want to be doing.
It’s fascinating to read how he takes the creative process down to its essence. I’ve read so many books on creativity and he’s the one who really boils it down so it can be applied to ANY thing – not just the usual creative endeavors like writing and visual art. And in such specific detail. Such as: start with figuring out what’s this thing I’m doing/creating all about anyway? What is the core purpose, theme, thing I want to explore?
But what’s my favorite thing about this book…. as well as The War of Art? The attitude, the passion, the kick-in-the-ass tone he uses in his writing. It totally fires me up!
Here’s a tiny taste found on page 38:
Suspend all self-judgement
Unless you’re building a sailboat or the Taj Mahal, I give you a free pass to screw up as much as you like. The inner critic? His ass is not permitted in the building. Set forth without fear and without self-censorship. When you hear that voice in your head, blow it off. This draft is not being graded. There will be no pop quiz. Only one thing matters in this initial draft: get SOMETHING done, however flawed or imperfect.
So if you’re feeling called to create something, do something meaningful, know that Resistance will raise its ugly fire-breathing head. Read this book to slay that dragon then give the world the work you were made to create.
