Steven Pressfield's Blog, page 121

So It Goes

He sensed Mary didn't like him. Something about the way she moved. Her actions were paired with loud, passive-aggressive noises. She didn't bang the ice tray in the sink to loosen ice cubes for her drink. A cool Cola wasn't on her mind.
And then she came out with it and told her husband's guest, Kurt
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David Ogilvy, Michael Lewis, and Brad Pitt

A few nights ago, I watched a 1970s era David Susskind interview with legendary advertising executive, David Ogilvy (1911–1999).  Ogilvy told a story about what he learned from George Gallup, the founder of the Gallup poll. Gallup put Ogilvy in charge of one of his Hollywood studio accounts. Conventional wisdom at that time (late 1930s-1940s)
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The 10,000 Hour Rule

I'm not sure whether Malcolm Gladwell was the first to identify this principle or was simply responsible for popularizing it. But his name is definitely associated with it.
The rule says that in order for an individual to master any complex skill, be it brain surgery or playing the cello, she must put in 10,000 hours
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What Can You Do With A Veteran?

"What can you do with a general when he stops being a general?" —White Christmas
The refrain from the White Christmas song, "What Can You Do With A General" has been running random laps through my mind for the past few decades.
I loved watching the musical as a kid, but the serious plot lines were
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At What Price Control?

On Monday September 30, 2002, Universal Music, Sony Music, Warner Music, Bertelsmann's BMG Music and EMI Group, plus retailers Musicland Stores, Tower Records and Trans World Entertainment agreed to pay a $67 million fine and to distribute $75 million worth of CDs to the public. The fine and damages settled lawsuits in 43 States over
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Out of My Comfort Zone

I've been out of the country for the past two weeks, in England and in Israel. (In fact I'm still overseas—and will be for two more weeks.) That's why I haven't put up any current posts. I've been so far out of my comfort zone, I couldn't make myself sit down and write. How far
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Bobbing for Shrapnel

"Halloween in Korea: bobbing for shrapnel. —Hawkeye Pierce, M*A*S*H television series
There's a scene in the novel M*A*S*H, when a Congressman's son is wounded. The father does what it takes to find the best chest-cutter in Korea—enter Dr. John "Trapper John" F.X. McIntyre. The pilot sent to pick up the doc finds him on a makeshift golf
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Out of the Garage

Prior to 1952, writers were at the rock bottom of the book publishing hierarchy.
A publisher acquired a book back then like this:
An agent and in many cases the author himself (F. Scott Fitzgerald handled his own book deals) would submit a novel and/or proposal for a work of nonfiction to an editor at a publishing
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Resistance and Addiction

Earlier this year, the "Writing Wednesdays" name was switched to "Do the Work Wednesdays" for the release of the book Do the Work. This post went up May 11, 2011, soon after the book's release. The comments that followed inspired other posts about addiction—and this reposting today.
Have you ever noticed that addicts are often extremely interesting
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Love Story of Panthea and Abradatas, Part Three

In Parts One and Two we have learned—from Xenophon's Education of Cyrus, translated by Walter Miller—of Panthea, the most beautiful woman in Asia, who was captured by Cyrus the Great but treated with such exemplary honor that she volunteered to bring her husband, the chariot commander Abradatas, over to Cyrus's cause.
Indeed Abradatus, out of gratitude
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