When it comes to this years’ objective to read 15 books, I’m halfway through.
The last book I read was “Do The Work”, written by Steven Pressfield.
Steven Pressfield is an author of fiction, non-fiction and screenplays, best known by his book ‘The War of Art’, which has sold millions of copies worldwide. The central premise of this book is to support you to overcome the force of Resistance when doing the most important things in your life.
According to Pressfield, Resistance is the repelling force on the other end of achievement. Hence, he stimulates you “to get off your behind and start something.” This book is a follow-up of the War of Art, where he provides actionable strategies to overcome Resistance.
“Resistance loves research”
What did I appreciate most?
The design of the book facilitates its message; stop overthinking and just read the book. Hence, the book is very short, you will probably need less than 2 hours to read it. His writing is likewise; stimulating you to start the work and challenging you to keep working.
My guess is that the content of this book isn’t going to groundbreaking for you. Yet it simplicity is encouraging, since short books are typically the hardest ones to write.
What is my tip?
I think the book is particularly useful for people with creative goals (e.g. writers, artists) or academics struggling to start or finish their article. For people who are considering a career transformation, this book also has potential.
For people who have the natural tendency to do the work and achieve their most important objectives, I would not recommend it.
What is my takeaway from this book?
In his book, Pressfield explores many forms of resistance, of which he explicitly mentions research as being one of those. He states “resistance loves research, since the more research you do, the less actual work you do”. Hence, Pressfield is a strong advocate of the notion “start before you are ready”.
“Trust that motivation comes after starting, not before”
Reflecting upon this book and notion, takes me back to my decision to leave the corporate haven and become an entrepreneur. At one point in time, I ticked all the boxes and needed to get started. I could have done more research. I wasn’t ready to start (because you can never be ready). Nevertheless, I started. Why?
I had a strong belief that (more) motivation would come after starting, not before. This has led to me where I am now.
What my next work is? I added ‘The War of Art’ to my to-read list.
When it comes to this years’ objective to read 15 books, I’m halfway through.
The last book I read was “Do The Work”, written by Steven Pressfield.
Steven Pressfield is an author of fiction, non-fiction and screenplays, best known by his book ‘The War of Art’, which has sold millions of copies worldwide. The central premise of this book is to support you to overcome the force of Resistance when doing the most important things in your life.
According to Pressfield, Resistance is the repelling force on the other end of achievement. Hence, he stimulates you “to get off your behind and start something.” This book is a follow-up of the War of Art, where he provides actionable strategies to overcome Resistance.
“Resistance loves research”
What did I appreciate most?
The design of the book facilitates its message; stop overthinking and just read the book. Hence, the book is very short, you will probably need less than 2 hours to read it. His writing is likewise; stimulating you to start the work and challenging you to keep working.
My guess is that the content of this book isn’t going to groundbreaking for you. Yet it simplicity is encouraging, since short books are typically the hardest ones to write.
What is my tip?
I think the book is particularly useful for people with creative goals (e.g. writers, artists) or academics struggling to start or finish their article. For people who are considering a career transformation, this book also has potential.
For people who have the natural tendency to do the work and achieve their most important objectives, I would not recommend it.
What is my takeaway from this book?
In his book, Pressfield explores many forms of resistance, of which he explicitly mentions research as being one of those. He states “resistance loves research, since the more research you do, the less actual work you do”. Hence, Pressfield is a strong advocate of the notion “start before you are ready”.
“Trust that motivation comes after starting, not before”
Reflecting upon this book and notion, takes me back to my decision to leave the corporate haven and become an entrepreneur. At one point in time, I ticked all the boxes and needed to get started. I could have done more research. I wasn’t ready to start (because you can never be ready). Nevertheless, I started. Why?
I had a strong belief that (more) motivation would come after starting, not before. This has led to me where I am now.
What my next work is? I added ‘The War of Art’ to my to-read list.
