Do the Work

by Steven Pressfield

Resistance’s Two Tests

Test Number One “How bad do you want it?”

Dabbling • Interested • Intrigued but Uncertain • Passionate • Totally Committed

Test Number Two “Why do you want it?”

For the babes (or the dudes) The money For fame Because I deserve it For power To prove my old man (or ex-spouse, mother, teacher, coach) wrong To serve my vision of how life/mankind ought to be For fun or beauty Because I have no choice If you checked 8 or 9, you get to stay on the island. (I know I said there was only one correct answer. But 8 and 9 are really one.) If you checked any of the first seven, you can stay, too—but you must immediately check yourself into the Attitude Adjustment Chamber.

The only items you get to keep are love for the work, will to finish, and passion to serve the ethical, creative Muse.

Whatever the cause, the Big Crash compels us to go back now and solve the problem that we either created directly or set into motion unwittingly at the outset.

Our greatest fear is fear of success.

Because finishing is the critical part of any project. If we can’t finish, all our work is for nothing.

New Yorker cartoon: A perplexed person stands before two doors. One door says HEAVEN. The other says BOOKS ABOUT HEAVEN.

That was when I realized I had become a pro. I had not yet had a success. But I had had a real failure.

Ship it.

Vincent shared this thought, “Blessed is he who has found his work.”