Do the Work

by
Steven Pressfield

“Painted “by @IvanaSendecka

 About this book
“This book is
designed to coach
you through a
project (a book, a
ballet, a new
business venture, a
philanthropic
enterprise) from
conception to
finished product,
seeing it from the
point of view of
Resistance.”
Steven Pressfield
Know Our* Enemies
#1 Resistance

#2 Rational Thought

#3 Friends & Family

* artist’s & entrepreneur’s

 #1 Resistance
Resistance aims to kill our
genius, our soul, the
unique gift we were put
on this Earth to give and
that no one else has got
but us.

Rule of a thumb:
The more important a call or
action is to our soul’s
evolution, the more Resistance
we will feel toward
pursuing it.
#2 Rational Thought
We want to work from the Self,
that is from instinct &
intuition, from the
unconscious.

Bad things happen

when we employ
rational thought,
because
rational thought
comes
from the ego.
 #3 Friends & Family
With some
exceptions
(God bless them),
friends
&
family are
the enemy
of this
unmanifested
you,
this
The problem with family & friends is unborn self,
that they know us as we are. this
future being.
Prepare yourself to make new friends.
Our Allies* are
#1 Stupidity
#2 Stubbornness
#3 Blind Faith
#4 Passion
#5 Assistance
#6 Friends & Family
* Champions on our side
#1 Stupidity
Ignorance and
arrogance are
the artist’s &
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.
 #2 Stubbornness
Be stubborn!
It will keep us from
stopping.
Once we commit to
action, the worst
thing we can do is
to stop.

We don’t have to be heroes to be

stubborn.
We can just be pains in the butts.
We are in till the finish.
#3 Blind Faith
Our mightiest ally is
belief in something
we cannot see, hear,
touch, taste, or feel.

Resistance wants to rattle that faith. Resistance wants to destroy it.

 #4 Passion Fear saps
passion.
Picasso painted with
passion, Mozart When we
composed with it. conquer our
fears,
A child plays with it we discover a
all day long. boundless,
bottomless,
inexhaustible
well
of passion.
#5 Assistance
Resistance
is the
shadow,
its
opposite
-
Assistance
is the
sun.
#6 Friends & Family

Only two things will remain with us, when

we cross the river: our inhering genius &
the hearts we love.
Three act structure
Break the sheet of
foolscap into 3
parts:
# 1 Beginning
# 2 Middle
# 3 End

Start at the End!

Answer the
question:
Then fill in the gaps.
Remember 3+ 1 M
a
n
t
r
a
s
The creative art is
Stay Primitive
primitive.

Its principles are of birth &

genesis. The most highly
cultured mother gives birth
sweating & dislocated &
cursing like a sailor.
 “Trust the Soup”
We mean the Muse,
the unconscious,
the Quantum Soup.
The sailor hoists his canvas,
trusting that the wind (which is
invisible and which he can
neither see nor control) will
appear and power him upon his
voyage.
You & I hoist our canvas to catch
ideas.
 Swing for the seats!

Start playing from power.

A home-run swing that results in a strikeout is better
than a successful bunt or even a line-drive single.
 Be ready for Resistance
Invisible, impersonal,
universal force,
which never sleeps.
Fear, self-doubt, procrastination, addiction, distraction, timidity, ego and
narcissism, perfectionism etc.
Meet those who did “do the work”

+
Seth Godin

Thank You, guys!

Thanks for having guts to challenge the status quo!
Thank you for exemplifying fight against
Resistance.
Credits for Pictures
Meditation
Mantra
Trust the soup
Swing
Primitive Man
Stay stupid
Stubbornness
Blind Faith
Pit Stop
Elephant Family
Family faces
Rationality
Lizard Brain
Enemy
Allies
Camera
For more inspiration to do the work:
Buy your own copy of Do the Work
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Read Seth Godin’s blog every day
Have FUN!