Playing the game for money produces the proper professional attitude. It inculcates the lunch-pail state of mind that shows up for work despite rain or snow or dark of night and slugs it out day after day.
STEVEN PRESSFIELDWe feed it [Resistance] with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.
More Steven Pressfield Quotes
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It’s better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot.
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The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.
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Research can become Resistance. We want to work, not prepare to work.
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Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.
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Stay stupid. Follow your unconventional crazy heart.
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The more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul.
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The opposite of fear is love – love of the challenge, love of the work, the pure joyous passion to take a shot at our dream and see if we can pull it off.
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Don’t prepare. Begin. Our enemy is not lack of preparation. The enemy is resistance, our chattering brain producing excuses. Start before you are ready.
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Long-term, we must begin to build our internal strengths. It isn’t just skills like computer technology. It’s the old-fashioned basics of self-reliance, self-motivation, self-reinforcement, self-discipline, self-command.
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What finally convinced me to go ahead was simply that I was so unhappy not going ahead.
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Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’s shadow is Resistance.
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The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.
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Those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.
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Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work.
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Do you love your idea? Does it feel right on instinct? Are you willing to bleed for it?
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Seeking support from friends and and family is like having people gathered around at your deathbed. It’s nice, but when the ship sails, all they can do is stand on the dock waving goodbye.
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The last thing we want is to remain as we are.
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Our greatest battle is to become ourselves, in the face of adversity.
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Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
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The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed.
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Put your ass where your heart wants to be.
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The artist cannot look to others to validate his efforts or his calling. If you don’t believe me, ask Van Gogh, who produced masterpiece after masterpiece and never found a buyer in his whole life.
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To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be.
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Figure out what scares you the most and do that first.
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It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior’s life.
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Always attack. Even in defense, attack. The attacking arm possesses the initiative and thus commands the action. To attack makes men brave; to defend makes them timorous.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD