Steven Pressfield is the author of a number of books including The Legend of Bagger Vance and War of Art. His newest book Do The Work walks you through a process for getting work done. This quote gives you a good idea of what you’ll find in the book.
Our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project, or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is resistance. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications and a million reasons why he can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.
Steven designed the book as a guide for finishing a project. While it is geared toward people who are working on a writing project, much of the content is readily adaptable to any type of project. Some of the points from the book:
- The biggest thing holding you back is yourself.
- Research often becomes and excuse for not producing something.
- If you want to make something you have to dive in and start making it.
- Over-thinking can hold you back.
- It is more important to write (or create) something than to get it right.
- Get it on paper and then edit or redo, but don’t let thinking and planning slow you down.
The book is short and can be read in about an hour. It is part of the Domino Project founded by Seth Godin. They sent me a copy to review.
Now for the free part. General Electric has sponsored the Kindle version of this book, so if you are interested you can get a free digital copy of it as long as you get it before May 20th. Don’t own a Kindle? No problem, you can get Kindle software for your phone or computer to read it as well.
Even if the book isn’t something you think you are interested in right now, I’d highly recommend getting the free version added to your Amazon account. The next time you are getting ready to start a big project you might find it is just what you need to get started off in the right direction.
Thanks for sharing. I just got my free copy; I’ll never pass up on free books!
Mark,
“The enemy is resistance” – and we very well know that this is us – you, me. We are the biggest obstacle that stand in the way.
Nice quick view of the book. I surely will have this in my next-reading list :-)
> The biggest thing holding you back is yourself.
I think assumptions like this are powerful.
I think another powerful assumption is that you’re the most meaningful meaning maker in your life, as well as the most powerful change agent and enabler in your life.
That’s why I’m a fan of personal empowerment and self-development. Life’s a game where many of the skills you learn do tip the scales in your favor. This also echoes one of my favorite sayings, “Luck is when skill and opportunity come together.”
So many insights for this book. Indeed the only thing that is holding us back s our self. The more we let go of our inhibitions, we become more and more of someone who we can be, someone we never imagined we could be.