Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way Paperback – March 13, 2015

"On the field of the Self stand a knight and a dragon. You are the knight. Resistance is the dragon."Resistance is not just an annoying feeling at the pit of our stomachs. Apparently, it is so much more. It is the internal demon that is dead set on destroying our creative powers, eradicating our motives of self-expression, and scaring the living daylights out of us every time we set out to do something authentic and inspired. Just great, right?! Resistance is the antagonist in this brilliant, captivating book by Steven Pressfield, and we - our souls, our yearning souls, our poor hungry souls - are the protagonist.How do we win this battle? Because make no mistake about it, as Steven tells us so bluntly, this is a war, and the universe is not indifferent to our will, it is antagonistic, it is evil, it is a repelling force, it is negative, it is here to distract us, shove us away, do us harm, make us suffer and use with the most brilliant schemes to get the job done. You are at the mercy of this evil force unless you have a plan, and allies, and a battle strategy.This is the book that arms you with all of that and more so read it. Read it if you ever plan to do something that is outside the norm of your daily life. Read it if you want to write a book, start a business, leave a good job, make a big change in your life and generally do anything that is outside your comfort zone and outside the conventional way of living and existing. Read it because Resistance's ears perk up when it sees you step outside the ordinary path to reach for higher rewards. Resistance wakes up from its slumber and comes to haunt you and your creative efforts.And if you are not careful, you will just give in. You will stop your painting, your book, your business, your dream, because Resistance will convince you to give it up.The gravest mistake we can make on this journey is to take Resistance lightly and to think that we have mastered it when you are just beginning to understand its force. The force of resistance gets stronger as you approach the finish line. It is at its worst a few minutes before you reach the summit, before you type the last chapter, before you ship that product or offer that service. Resistance works closely with shame, guilt, humiliation, failure, and its best friend, FEAR.Resistance has no mercy on your soul and no care for your happiness, and it's not personal either. Resistance goes after everyone who chooses to do something creative and extraordinary with his or her life. If that is you, then you need to learn how to deal with this monster, or else, resign yourself to living in the shadow of the beast forever. But you don't want that, and neither do I so read this masterpiece of a genius - which is very short by the way, it will take you maybe 1 hour to read it - and you will outsmart Resistance for the rest of your days.As far as the writing, I am not crazy about non-fiction books. Pressfield's writing voice speaks to me. I love his desperate plea for waking up and paying attention. I love how he identified this monster and didn't mince words. I love how passionate he gets, how obsessed he becomes with defeating the monster, and how simply and freely he writes on the topic. I do like the right-adjusted large font text interweaved with the regular text. I must have highlighted the entire book and do plan on reading it again, and recommending it all my clients and customers.You know, I wish someone had recommended this to me when I was struggling with leaving my lousy corporate job, or when I wanted to dig deeper into my yoga journey and heard how futile it was to do so at such an "old age" (30 something!). And one thing is clear to me now: I will make a conscious effort to battle Resistance every time I start my heart-centered projects and endeavors, and frankly, you should too! :)

I read The War of Art (Steven's previous book on this subject) last year, and I loved it. Recently I picked up the audiobook and listened it through, and I loved it the second time, too. I have the occasional small disagreement with Pressfield's worldview, but never enough to take issue with his approach -- and The War of Art has been an enormously positive influence on my mindset and my work (over and over). I was excited when I saw that Do the Work was coming down the line, and my feelings on it are almost entirely positive.An interesting note: As of this writing, all the 1-star reviews for Do the Work are about someone having received this book without ordering it. Some may have hit the pre-order button when the ebook was free and then forgotten; some may in fact have received it as a glitch on Amazon's part. But those negative reviews still have to do with the delivery system, not the actual content of the book. This seems a bad basis for a book review. So my review is about the content. ^_^I am surprised to have found that it's NOT necessary to read The War of Art before reading Do the Work. Pressfield periodically reflects back to The War of Art for important preceding information (which he repeats, rather than just referencing), and a new reader will enjoy this book just as much if she reads it first instead of second. (I love this, because of course it makes it easier for me to recommend the book to others.) And even as someone who'd read The War of Art originally, the repeated bits (surprisingly!) didn't annoy me; they only served to reinforce the material, which was a nice effect.Do the Work is like a workbook -- like a seasoned veteran holding your hand through trial and tribulation. Read it from cover to cover, but then pick up any project and let it guide you from beginning to the end. Through Resistance's clutches and out the other side!Pressfield says in the beginning that Do the Work is created in the parlance of writing, but I'm not sure that warning was needed -- he gives dozens of non-writing-related examples throughout the entire book. He may have started with writing, but from my perspective, the book has very little bias towards writing projects.A few of my favorite parts throughout: The section on creative panic. His in-depth description of the (imagined) creative crash of Herman Melville on the way to completing Moby Dick. (This made me giggle.) And Pressfield's bit of graduation speech at the end? Quite an excellent experience!If I have any issue with Do the Work, it's that Pressfield begins by describing the artist's territory as fundamentally adversarial. Later on, it becomes more clear why he might be doing this -- Navy SEALs are put through as much hell as possible early on, to see if they will give up the fight before actual lives are at stake. Is it possible that he is putting the reader in this position, too? Art often IS war. The down and dirty, in-the-trenches, professionals-only quality of The War of Art is why I fell in love with Pressfield a year ago. As Do the Work progressed, I found him just as willing to describe the surprising benefits and creative power of ASSISTANCE as he was to describe the fundamental malignancy and evil of RESISTANCE. So in the end, I was cool with it. It served a purpose.There is no sugar-coating here. There's LOTS of powerful mojo. Artists are well-served by the warrior mindset, and in the end, Pressfield is creating warriors with this book.