The War of Art -- We begin!
Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
We have now begun a new book, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. If you didn’t start the book yet, no worries. The reading I suggested for this past week was so light you can read it in less than 15 minutes.
And that means by now you should have simply read the Foreword to the book as well as the first few short sections by Pressfield, “What I Do,” “What I Know,” and “The Unlived Life.” That’s everything before “Book One” begins.
This is a VERY SHORT book, but we are going through it slowly because it’s one of those kind of books you should just read a few pages each day and sort of reflect and meditate on and consider how it can be applicable to your life.
By this time next week, just read the first 30 pages of “Book One.” I recommend about 5 pages per day. But first let’s give you a little introduction of where we are headed.
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The Foreword is written by a separate author, Robert McKee. He describes the book’s three major sections this way:
Book One made him feel guilty as charged of procrastination as a writer. He often succumbs to the “resistance” that Pressfield writes about.
Book Two gives us a battle plan — how to conquer resistance.
Book Three gives us a vision of victory.
McKee says that “Pressfield labels the enemy of creativity Resistance.”
Who is Steven Pressfield? He is also a writer, and author of many great books, some of which are legendary titles such as Gates of Fire, Tides of War, and The Legend of Bagger Vance. In this book, Pressfield gives us a roadmap to overcome resistance. He’s going to bring it forward very transparently so we will recognize it when it pops up its head in many different forms.
McKee says that in Book Two of The War of Art we are going to find that Pressfield lays out the day-by-day, step-by-step campaign of the professional: preparation, order, patience, endurance, acting in the face of fear and failure — no excuses, no bullshit.
There’s that word “fear” again. But we are going to overcome it. After all, we’re on a Fearless Journey.
In Book Three we will meet "Inspiration,” or what McKee refers to as “that sublime result that blossoms in the furrows of the professional who straps on the harness and plows the field of his or her art.
Art.
This book is primarily intended for writers, but it is also for anyone pursuing anything creative — and that could be starting a business as well. There’s so much creativity involved in the things we dream about doing but fail to actually start.
McKee says that “when inspiration touches talent, she gives birth to truth and beauty,” and that’s what we want to inspire in each member of the Fearless Journeys community. We want to see something true and beautiful be born — from you.
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As Steven Pressfield himself opens up this book, he gives us a step-by-step detail of his day. Every little step. Why? Those are part of the rituals that keep him moving forward. As a student of James Clear, I see “habit stacking” all over Pressfield’s day.
He concludes his description of his typical day of writing by telling us: “How many pages have I produced? I don’t care. Are they any good? I don’t even think about it. All that matter is that I’ve put in my time and hit it with all I’ve got. All that counts is that, for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance.”
James Clear might say that Steve Pressfield just shows up each day. He never puts up a zero, or a blank.
Pressfield says: “There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and that secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.”
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Then he challenges us.
“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.”
He asks us a question.
“Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.”
He wonders what the world would be like if everyone started on their Fearless Journey.
“If tomorrow morning by some stroke of magic every dazed and benighted soul woke up with the power to take the first step toward pursuing his or her dreams, every shrink in the directory would be out of business.”
Another challenge comes directly for each of us.
“Look in your own heart. Unless I’m crazy, right now a still, small voice is piping up, telling you as it has ten thousand times before, the calling that is yours and yours alone. You know it. No one has to tell you.”
In The Alchemist, Santiago wants to find his Personal Legend. He started the journey. Have you?
Let’s get reading some more.
By this time next week, finishing the first 30 pages of the book (we’ll read to the section that ends with “Resistance and this Book”). Ideally read about 5 pages a day.
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Here is our suggested reading schedule between now and March 24:
February 11 - 17: Forward / What I Do / What I Know / The Unlived Life
February 18 - 24: Book One (pages 1 to 30)
February 25 - March 3: Book One (pages 30-59)
March 4 - 10: Book Two (pages 60-103)
March 11 - 17: Book Three (pages 104-141)
March 18 - 24: Book Three (pages 142 - 168)
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