Do The Work by Steven Pressfield
Resistance is a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.
The last thing we want is to remain as we are.
A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.
Don’t think. Act. We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.
When we conquer our fears, we discover a boundless, bottomless, inexhaustible well of passion.
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
We can never eliminate Resistance. It will never go away. But we can outsmart it, and we can enlist allies that are as powerful as it is.
Do research early or late. Don’t stop working. Never do research in prime working time. Research can be fun. It can be seductive. That’s its danger. We need it, we love it. But we must never forget that research can become Resistance.
Only one thing matters in this initial draft: get SOMETHING done, however flawed or imperfect. You are not allowed to judge yourself.
Stay stupid. Follow your unconventional, crazy heart.
Ignore false negatives. Ignore false positives. Both are Resistance.
The only items you get to keep are love for the work, will to finish, and passion to serve the ethical, creative Muse.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
