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When we’re living as amateurs, we’re running away from our calling – meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves.

Steven Pressfield

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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Enterprise Fear Feeling Growth Important Ourselves Soul
We feed it [Resistance] with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Feed Food Resistance
It is one thing to study war and another to live the warrior’s life.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Life Oneself Study War
Ignorance and arrogance are the artist’s and entrepreneur’s indispensable allies. She must be clueless enough to have no idea how difficult her enterprise is going to be and cocky enough to believe she can pull it off anyway.”
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Arrogant Artist Believe Difficult Enough Entrepreneur Herself Ignorance
In my experience, depth of work consists of two components. The first is recklessness; the second is discipline.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Death Discipline Experience Work
When we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen… Unseen forces enlist in our cause; serendipity reinforces our purpose.
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Day Force Mystery Purpose Start
The amateur tweets. The pro works.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Amateur Effort Master One Liner Work
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Imagination Job Life Ourselves Philosophy Time
A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Believe Big Children Doubt Heart Hesitation Mad Man Myself Thinking Trouble
What finally convinced me to go ahead was simply that I was so unhappy not going ahead.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Happiness Myself Simplicity
Slay that dragon once, and he will never have power over you again.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Fantasy Fight Inspirational Win Yourself
When we’re living as amateurs, we’re running away from our calling – meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Amateur Call Live Meaning Run True Work
Figure out what scares you the most and do that first.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Act Brave Fear Inspirational Scare Yourself
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 PRESSFIELD

Attitude Day Game Mindset Night Play Production Professional
The professional loves her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly. But she does not forget that the work is not her.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Herself Investment Love Professional Work
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Basic Build Computer Discipline Motivational Strength Technology
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

Attack Brave Defense Man Possession
The critic hates most that which he would have done himself if he had had the guts.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Action Brave Criticism Hate Himself
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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Life Live Resistance Stand
We fear discovering that we are more than we think we are… That we actually have the guts, the perserverance, the capacity… because, if it’s true, then we become estranged from all we know.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Capacity Discover Fear Perseverance Thinking
The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Difference Important Principle Urgent Yourself
We will have to choose between the life we want for our future and the life we have left behind.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Choice Future Life Ourselves
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.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Artist Believe Effort Inspirational Life Production
As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Born Himself Learning Student Teacher
The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Art Contribution Himself Professional Recognition Respect Superior
A cavalryman’s horse should be smarter than he is. But the horse must never be allowed to know this.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Animal Home Man Smart
The sign of the amateur is overglorification of and preoccupation with the mystery. The professional shuts up. She doesn’t talk about it. She does her work.
STEVEN PRESSFIELD

Amateur Glory Hereslf Mystery Occupation Professional Talk Work

When we’re living as amateurs, we’re running away from our calling – meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves.

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When we’re living as amateurs, we’re running away from our calling – meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves.

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Popular Authors

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