Do the Work

by Steven Pressfield

Principle Number Six: Resistance Arises Second The sixth principle of Resistance (and the key to overcoming it) is that Resistance arises second. What comes first is the idea, the passion, the dream of the work we are so excited to create that it scares the hell out of us. Resistance is the response of the frightened, petty, small-time ego to the brave, generous, magnificent impulse of the creative self. Resistance is the shadow cast by the innovative self’s sun. What does this mean to us—the artists and entrepreneurs in the trenches? It means that before the dragon of Resistance reared its ugly head and breathed fire into our faces, there existed within us a force so potent and life-affirming that it summoned this beast into being, perversely, to combat it. It means that, at bottom, Resistance is not the towering, all-powerful monster before whom we are compelled to quake in terror. Resistance is more like the pain-in-the-ass schoolteacher who won’t let us climb that tree in the playground. But the urge to climb came first. That urge is love. Love for the material, love for the work, love for our brothers and sisters to whom we will offer our work as a gift. In Greek, the word is eros. Life force. Dynamis, creative drive. That mischievous tree-climbing scamp is our friend. She’s us, she’s our higher nature, our Self. In the face of Resistance, we have to remember her and hang onto her and draw strength from her. The opposite of fear is love—love of the challenge, love of ...