I’ve always wondered how the great avatars and truly evolved personages respond to the boring, quotidian, zero-glam aspects of their lives. How does the Dalai Lama wake up? How did Gandhi brush his teeth? Here’s what Paramahansa Yogananda (1893-1952) said to his followers about that moment, in bed, when he first opens his eyes. “Wake… The post “Wake Up! Do Not Lie There ‘Thinking’!” first appeared on Steven Pressfield.| Steven Pressfield
People ask sometimes, “What time in your day do you first experience Resistance?” My answer: “The second I open my eyes.” Why do I go to the gym first thing in the morning? To confront that negative force and establish a pattern of positive commitment for the day. Have you ever logged onto Navy SEAL… The post My Head in the Morning first appeared on Steven Pressfield.| Steven Pressfield
We were talking in an earlier post about the choreographer Twyla Tharp and her book, The Creative Habit. Let’s dig a little deeper into the principles that underlie Ms. Tharp’s mindset and that book. What we’re really talking about is the difference between discipline and self-discipline. If you’re a private in the army or a| Steven Pressfield
Patronu aradığında sürekli hasta olduğunu söyleyerek iş yerine yalan söylüyor | stevenpressfield.com
We’ve been talking in the past few posts about self-reliance, self-sufficiency, the mindset of the entrepreneur and the professional. We’ve said to the aspiring writer or artist, “Brother, Sister, beyond talent and imagination, you’ve got to be mentally tough to succeed in these hardcore fields.” Why? What’s the reason we have to be tough? Whom… The post It’s All About Resistance first appeared on Steven Pressfield.| Steven Pressfield
“If you believe the critics when they tell you you’re good, you have to believe them when they tell you you’re bad.” In other words, DON’T BELIEVE THEM. Better yet, don’t even read them.| Steven Pressfield
My business partner Shawn Coyne has a term that he can’t utter without personal and emotional abhorrence. “Third party validation.” He HATES it. He hates the very idea of it. When he sees it in others, he shakes his head. When he discovers even a glimmer within himself, he’s horrified and moves heaven and earth… The post Third Party Validation first appeared on Steven Pressfield.| Steven Pressfield
Have you read Twyla Tharp’s book The Creative Habit? I quoted a passage in one of my books and she made me pay 250 bucks. It was worth it because the passage was so great. Here it is: I begin each day of my life with a ritual: I wake up at 5:30 A.M., put| Steven Pressfield
It’s 4:30 in the morning and we’re on our way to the gym. This is six days a week, rain or shine, Christmas, Fourth of July, your birthday. I hate it. Everybody does. We’d all rather be home in bed munching bon-bons. Why do it then? For me, it’s not because I imagine I’m going… The post Going to the Gym in the Dark first appeared on Steven Pressfield.| Steven Pressfield
I got a note this morning from Phil Britton about the Wednesday 8/6 post, “Empathy.” Phil writes, “I’d love to hear your take on how to balance this with the idea of ‘never play to the gallery.'” Great question. I can see I haven’t been clear enough in the past couple of posts. What I… The post To Pander or Not to Pander first appeared on Steven Pressfield.| Steven Pressfield
We said in last week’s post that Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t. And that as soon as you and I grasp this concept, we have made a primary Artist’s Breakthrough. We have acquired empathy. When we understand that nobody wants to read our shit, our mind becomes powerfully concentrated. We begin to understand that| Steven Pressfield
I’m borrowing (again) from my entrepreneurship guru, Dan Sullivan. Dan has crystalized the statement that every entrepreneur makes to him or herself, whether she does this consciously or not. It’s the entrepreneur’s code, the independent businessperson’s declaration of principle: I will expect no remuneration until I have created value for someone else. Let me repeat| Steven Pressfield
The first thing I do when I enter my office each morning is to say a prayer to the Muse. I say it out loud in dead earnest. The prayer I say (this is in The War of Art, page 119) is the invocation of the Muse from Homer's Odyssey, translation by T.E. Lawrence,| Steven Pressfield
I hate the word “creative.” Particularly when it’s used as a noun. That a person is a “creative.” Why do I hate it? Because it implies someone who is different from—and better than—the average blue-collar working stiff. There’s a romance to being an artist, isn’t there? The novelist starving in a garret like Dostoevsky. William| Steven Pressfield
Last Wednesday I posted in this space the first two chapters from Turning Pro. This week I want to include the following four. Mainly because I think they work nicely as a unit---and because together they give a real flavor for what the book is and what it's about. Next week: back to our regular Writing Wednesdays.| Steven Pressfield
