The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Despite a very clear set of goals and personal mission, I recently found myself struggling to move, let alone accomplish anything meaningful. All I wanted to do was lay facedown on my couch. I would have ordered delivery pizza, but my cell phone was in the other room and I just could not muster the energy to go find it.
On these more challenging days, I reach for Steven Pressfield's The War of Art.
“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”
~ Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
This is a book best placed on the back of your toilet and can be read to completion in just a few visits. Pressfield provides shots of eye opening wisdom into an invisible force whose only job is to keep us from becoming the best version of ourselves.
Resistance is the reason the thing you care about most is the thing you keep putting off. The project. The workout. The idea you have been carrying around for two years. It shows up in direct proportion to how much the work means to you.
That is Pressfield's whole point. Resistance is not a sign that you are lazy or undisciplined. It is a signal that you are close to something that matters.
The work that matters most is the work you will find every reason to avoid.
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