Truth be told, resistance has been kicking my ass lately and that’s partially why I picked this book for this week. Everybody faces resistance in some form or another so why not try to understand how to deal with it a little bit better. Once you finish this book you’ll be able to spot resistance the second it shows its face. And once you’ve spotted resistance, it’s then left up to you on whether or not you’ll let it win. Having trouble getting up in the morning so you hit the snooze button 4 more times? That’s resistance and it just won. As Steven Pressfield puts it, there’s the amateur, and then there’s the pro. The amateur talks about how he’s going to write a book while the pro doesn’t say a word and actually gets it done. And if you’re not a big reader, than this is the book for you. Most pages are no more than two paragraphs if that. You could finish this book in a day if you really wanted to. Easy enough. So that being said, there’s the amateur, and there’s the professional; which one are you?
Standouts: “Are you a born writer? Were you put on earth to be a painter, a scientist, an apostle of peace? In the end the question can only be answered by action.
Do it or don’t do it.
It may help to think of it this way. If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.
You shame the angels who watch over you and you spite the Almighty, who created you and only you with your unique gifts, for the sole purpose of nudging the human race one millimeter farther along its path back to God.
Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It’s a gift to the world and every being in it. Don’t cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you’ve got.”
Rating: 10/10
Recommended for: Anyone having a hard time getting shit done.