A few people have asked me how I suddenly got up the ambition to get my art store going and how I've been so productive. It's really down to one book: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield.
No fewer than 8 people recommended that book to me, probably more but I don't remember. I think I knew it would be a kick in the ass. I wasn't sure I was ready for it. It took me ages to get around to it. Now I'm the one recommending it to every writer and creative who will listen to me (who hasn't already read it.)
It's a fast read. Pressfield doesn't waste your time, doesn't insult your intelligence and doesn't pull punches. It's what you need to read to get off your ass and do the work (to borrow the title of another one of his books.) I finished it in a few days and then started over and read it again.
How you think of your work, and how you think of yourself doing that work, are crucial to your success. There are so many ways we sabotage ourselves before we've even begun - before we've even put pen or brush to paper. He addresses the biggest mental blocks that keep us from our work, and from succeeding in our creative endeavors. And he does it in a frank, occasionally brutally honest, way.
You know what? Stop reading this review and just go read the book. It won't take long. Stop stalling - the work is calling.
“Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.”
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