In his cool little book The War of Art, writer Steven Pressfield declares:
How many of us have become drunks and drug addicts, developed tumors and neuroses, succumbed to painkillers, gossip, and compulsive cell-phone use, simply because we don't do that thing that our hearts, our inner genius, is calling us to? Resistance defeats us. 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. Prisons would stand empty. The alcohol and tobacco industries would collapse, along with the junk food, cosmetic surgery, and infotainment businesses, not to mention pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and the medical profession from top to bottom. Domestic abuse would become extinct, as would addiction, obesity, migraine headaches, road rage, and dandruff.
Pressfield's primary audience is fellow writers. However, his volume full of unapologetic, straight-to-the-gut accountability assertions is relevant to anyone who wants to do anything worth doing. Pressfield exposes the many excuses and rationalizations we spin throughout the day as we talk ourselves out of doing what we feel truly called to do–and be. He lumps all of these habitual behaviors under the umbrella of “Resistance,” the core enemy of our bliss.
After spending only 15-20 minutes with Pressfield, I was suddenly re-energized to write that next book and not simply spend 2013 marketing my other books. (Hello!) I heartily recommend anyone who has an ounce of motivation left in life to buy The War of Art.
