What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What To Do?

I recommend this book to artists, struggling business owners, and anyone who feels lost. It’s written like a motivational self help book, but reads like a Steven King Novel. Pressfield is a great writer, he knows writing and I still think this is the best book for ANY artists (once you realize everyone’s an artist in their own way) no matter where you are at in your career.

“It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance.”

He introduces this concept of the “resistance” or the force holding us back from doing our work. Distractions, interruptions, other “priorities”, anything that keeps you from doing what’s important you must realize is the resistance and you must push back with everything you have in your soul. The resistance is there to be defeated.

“The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome.”

Pressfield makes a lot of comparisions using the ameteur and the professional. It’s great point when you’re in between what you are and don’t call yourself a professional OR an ameteur. He inspires you to start acting like the professional knowing that one day you will be one. The difference between ametuer and professional is mearly an attitude.

Remember, every professional was once an ametuer.

“Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. resistance is the enemy within.”

If you’re good at procrastinating then you know resistance. Every day we must slay this dragon of distraction!

“The more resistance you experience, the more important your unmanifested art/project/enterprise is to you – and the more gratification you will fell when you finally do it.”

I always tell people that if you have a little voice in the back of your head saying you need to do something then you need to do it. That voice doesn’t get quieter. The more push back you feel, the more you need to follow that dream.

“Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt.”

Every entrepreneur, artist, performer, or driven individual has felt it. No one is immune to it.

“Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work.”

In school it was avoiding homework or the big project. Today it’s avoiding the important work for doing the urgent work. And we all know the important work needs to be done before the urgent. Be careful, the resistance can be disguised as many things, as long as it’s keeping you from your work it’s resistance.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now.” — W. H. Murray

If you follow your heart into the world of what you were meant to do it seems almost magical. There’s no time to wait for, decide now.

I remember in 4th year university I had decided to run for President of the Business Students Society. After a conference where I had decided to run I had told a few people at school No one believed me. No one thought I was serious. But no one ran against me and I had a very successful year. Boldness definitely has genius. If you want more information on this concept I recommend reading “The Magic of Thinking Big“.

…she (the artist, the writer) doesn’t wait for inspiration, she acts in the anticipation of its apparition.

I’ll always remember a conversation with a friend who was a fake artist. She never really created anything, just worked a job a said “she’s waiting for inspiration”. It felt like she was making an excuse at the time but what I realized later was she’s was lying to herself.

Artists just like business people don’t wait for inspiration, they wake up every morning, go to work and inspiration comes to them. No the other way around. To think that artists all over the world wait to be inspired is absurd. No, like everyone else the artist goes to work and does her work. She has good days and bad days. But inspiration has nothing to do with it.

The Muse will find you if you work hard enough. If you want more information on how creatives tap into this unforeseen omi-powerful force watch this:

“The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”

I bolded this quote to remind myself that it’s okay to be scared, it’s okay to not know. The fakeness of people hiding behind social media profiles in this day and age is obvious. We’re scared. We’re scared that people will find out we’re not as pretty, thin, good looking, smart, genuine, or list whatever else we’re self conscious about. The sad part is that this is not slowing down any time soon.

Catfishing isn’t just some fun thing trolls do to fool people. We’re all Catfishing a little, none of us are truly self-confident all the time.

Like a magnetized needle floating on a surface of oil, Resistance will unfailingly point to true North – meaning that calling or action it most wants to stop us from doing. We can use this. We can use it as a compass. We can navigate by Resistance, letting it guide us to that calling or action that we must follow before all others.

I like to think that what I’m trying to avoid doing is exactly what I should be doing. I hate calling people. I love talking to people but there’s something about talking on the phone I just have never liked. You don’t see body language, you can’t see facial expressions, it’s hard to talk to someone properly on the phone. I avoid calling you back like the plague. I would do anything not to have to.

But I know these thoughts are simply the resistance just peaking it’s gross little face into my life. Talking on the phone can be very beneficial and you can still show people how you care over the phone.

Listen to the resistance, it’ll tell you things your conscious won’t admit.

What are you afraid of? What’s your biggest fear?

Ask yourself this regularly. Seems more along the lines of a stoic principle. Realize your biggest fears aren’t really fears at all and you’re instantly stronger.

We feed it [Resistance] with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance.

The only way it has no effect over us is if we don’t feed it. If we’re willing to walk into the fire believing we will be left unscathed.

The professional cannot take rejection personally because to do so reinforces Resistance. Editors are not the enemy; critics are not the enemy. Resistance is the enemy. The battle is inside our own heads. We cannot let external criticism, even if it’s true, fortify our internal foe. That foe is strong enough already.

NEVER TAKE REJECTION PERSONALLY. Say it again with me.

This is big. Generally if people leave our company it’s because they have a hard time with rejection. Feedback can feel like rejection. Losing the sale can feel like rejection. Getting let go, dumped, or fired can feel like rejection.

Critics are not the enemy, resistance is.

…Because this is war, baby. And war is hell.

This last story I found inspiring the first time I read it and I think it’s just as important right now.

You have to know how to be miserable. If you can learn to live with less stuff, more rejection and more failure, eventually you’re going to learn how to do your craft.

In my younger days dodging the draft, I somehow wound up in the Marine Corps. There’s a myth that Marine training turns baby-faced recruits into bloodthirsty killers. Trust me, the Marine Corps is not that efficient. What it does teach, however, is a lot more useful.

The Marine Corps teaches you how to be miserable.
This is invaluable for an artist.

Marines love to be miserable. Marines derive a perverse satisfaction in having colder chow, crappier equipment, and higher casualty rates than any outfit of dogfaces, swab jockeys, or flyboys, all of whom they despise. Why? Because these candy-asses don’t know how to be miserable.

The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.

The artist must be like that Marine. He has to know how to be miserable. He has to love being miserable. He has to take pride in being more miserable than any soldier or swabbie or jet jockey. Because this is war, baby. And war is hell.