Turning Pro

by Steven Pressfield

Never train your animal to exhaustion. Leave him wanting more.

The professional does not wait for inspiration; he acts in anticipation of it.

When we make someone into an icon, we give away our power. We say to ourselves (unconsciously), "This person possesses a quality I wish I possessed. Therefore I will worship this person in the hope that that quality will wear off on me, or I will acquire that quality by virtue of my proximity to this mentor/sensei/lover/teacher/hero."

Each day we, as professionals, face the same monsters and chimeras as did Perseus or Bellerophon or St. George. The sword master advancing into ritual combat has inwardly made peace with his own extinction. He is prepared to leave everything, including his life, there on the fighting floor.

The hero wanders. The hero suffers. The hero returns. You are that hero.