Stephen Pressfield is someone who I’ve learned a lot from when it comes to the internal struggle to do work that means something to us. His advice on breaking through creative blocks and internal resistance, which he calls The Resistance is found in his books The War of Art and Do The Work, among others. The clip below offers a two minute introduction to some of his ideas. One of the ideas that he introduces, an idea also espoused by the great Seth Godin, is the idea of ‘turning pro’. The idea here is that a pro turns up and works regardless of whether they feel like it or not. Pressfield uses the analogy of a basketball player who shows up and plays in spite of the fact that they experiences pain in the body. An important distinction I’d make here is that this is distinct from the idea of literally ‘becoming a professional’ in the sense of being someone who gets paid to do the work you’ve chosen. Turning pro will definitely help you on your path to getting paid if you haven’t gotten there already because it’s an attitude which leads to consistency. Consistency is one of the most reliable ways to both get better at what you do, and eventually to get paid for it. As anyone who does creative work knows, inspiration is a fickle and fleeting thing. Sometimes it’s there, and it’s great, and sometimes it deserts us for weeks or months at a time. Anyone can work when they feel inspired. This is the joyful downhill ride down the other side of the mountain, the moment when it all comes together and becomes easy. What matters more is whether we have the grit, determination and professionalism to grind our way up the uphill portions of the path when inspiration is nowhere in sight. Being a writer who only writes when they feel inspired is like saying “I only like riding downhill”.
Today it’s raining and grey and both my kids are at home after being sick all weekend. Conditions are not ideal for writing or any other work. But part of my commitment to write this blog every day is that it forces this discipline on me, in public, to write when it feels difficult, to push through the uphills and to show up. My hope is that in the process of doing this everyday my writing will improve, as will my practice of discipline. So far over the time I’ve been doing this I’ve been able to be quite consistent with it, and that feels good. Today, in the face of resistance my mind turns to Pressfield, and so I thought I’d share him with you.
