Unlock Your Inner Artist: Book Two

The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
by Stephen Pressfield

Oh no.  Not another book about writing!  Well, if you still think Book One is just about writing, I blew it.  Sorry about that, and I hope you don’t leave here thinking this one is just another writing book.

This year I signed up to “the future belongs to artists” team, and decided that if it wasn’t art, then I’d better change direction in a hurry.  There are a million reasons not to go the artist route.  It’s hard.  It takes a long time.  Failure, embarrassment, and shame also play a part.  THE WAR OF ART takes a look at being an artist, and examines all of the things that keep folks from making the leap and living unfulfilled lives.  These are all thrown into a bin called “Resistance”, and Resistance is the enemy.

Author, Steven Pressfield (remember Legend of Bagger Vance?) examines what keeps us from what we want to be doing most.  From launching the dream business, hosting a sports show, painting a masterpiece, writing the book that keeps gnawing at the back of your brain, becoming a triathlete, or leaving the job you despise, there are great reasons to do any of these.  But there are also reasons to not do them. And usually, those negative reasons have more mental impact than the positive reasons and they keep you in check.  Pressfield identifies the enemy and lays out how to defeat it.  The writing is honest and can be harsh, but all that “someday” “maybe” “could have” crap is just fuel for Resistance anyway.  Right?  Here’s a clip:

“Unless I’m crazy, right now a still small voice is piping up, telling you as it has ten thousand times, the calling that is yours and yours alone.  you know it.  No one has to tell you.  And unless I’m crazy, you’re no closer to taking action on it than you were yesterday or will be tomorrow.  You think Resistance isn’t real?  Resistance will bury you.”

Another important topic of the book is turning from an amateur into a professional.  Pressfield claims this is a key to combating Resistance.  In fact he divides his own life into two parts:  before turning pro, and after.

“The amateur plays for fun.  The professional plays for keeps.  …. Resistance hates it when we turn pro.”

There’s not another book I’ve read that is more clear or has less patience for tourists, poseurs, or amateurs.  However, this book is not a rant.  It is a concise manual to not only starting, but executing every day.

In closing, here’s a 20 minute video from marketing master, Seth Godin.  He talks about the “lizard brain” —  perhaps the core of Resistance.  A fantastic accessory video to the THE WAR OF ART.