I recently started reading The War of Art by Stephen Pressfield.
I think starting this book could not have come at a better time for me. This book talks about all of the self-sabotaging habits that creatives go through in making their work, and gives us solutions. And since I’ve been promoting Bad with Titles II and discussing my struggles with both creating it and promoting it, this book has given me a huge amount of insight.
The book is very short and gets straight to the point, and is organized into 3 sections. I figured since the book is in three sections, I should give my thoughts on each section as I finish, in three different parts.
The first part of the book is all about what Pressfield calls “The Resistance”. That sneaking force that makes us procrastinate on doing the things we feel called to do. The self-sabotaging voice that tells us our work isn’t good enough to be shared, that scares us into never taking action on our goals or dreams at all. Anything that gives us the instant gratification we search for the second we hit any snag or struggle when working on our especially worthwhile projects.
Pressfield says the Resistance only shows it’s face when we are trying to move from where we are and towards our goals, especially as creatives. The resistance wants us to be stagnant, it doesn’t want us to evolve, and it wants us to always think with regret about what we could’ve been or what we could’ve made.
The book dedicates pages and pages to all the common ways that the Resistance shows up in many people’s lives.
Here’s where it shows up for me:
Research, research, Research
I will do mountains on mountains of research before starting a new venture or project.
I look for models, examples, and even instruction booklets. I need a clear picture of what it looks like to move from where I am to the goal I’m envionsing.
And I think a healthy amount of research is a good thing. I think having a direction and a big picture goal is good.
But where it gets me, is that I will research and then overwhelm myself and never start….especially if I don’t have a perfect, garunteed plan. Speaking of perfect….
Perfectionism, Social Media, and Comparison
I think this is common among people. I start to go for a goal, or start making a project. I may habe even made significant progress….then I see it. Someone seemingly doing the same as me, but doing it way better in my eyes. I start comparing and feel discouraged to even continue.
Sometimes it keeps me from even starting the work. The self-doubt and fear that comes with showing my work becomes debilitating.
The resistance shows up for me in those areas for the most part. Its the strongest at the beginning and the end of each project or work that I start. In fact, I always have huge amounts of Resistance when I write these posts, letting people see my work and the thought processes behind it.
The next section of the book is about becoming a “Pro”. Before I read it, I’m going to take some time to think about what being a pro could look like for me.
- Doing it Scared
- Take the advice of Austin Kleon in his books, and show my work and continue to do so
- Try to detach from the work and just do the work, and not care about results (this will be the hardest for me to do)
Looking forward to finding out Pressfields thoughts on this.
Where does the Resistance show up for you?