War of Art, The MP3 CD – MP3 Audio, June 16, 2015

The cover of The War of Art has a quote by Esquire Magazine. It reads, “A vital gem… a kick in the ass.” Flip the book open and the reader will see the book is published by a firm called Black Irish Entertainment. It’s logo is a single boxing glove. While reading this book, I couldn’t help but constantly think back to this quote and image. Each chapter felt like a punch to the gut, a wake up call, a kick in the ass. Steven Pressfield titled his book The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles and he presents his readers with just that. A manual on fighting and defeating the opponent of life and resistance. I strongly recommend this book to anyone looking for the tools necessary to overcome life’s greatest obstacles, develop yourself into an accomplished professional, and become the ultimate versions of yourself. Here's why:The book was first published in 2002 and written by Steven Pressfield. Pressfield is most known for his historical fiction but has also produced many award winning non-fiction works and screenplays. His first book, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was made into a reputable film in 1995. His writing often draws parallels between historical classics, religious archetypes, and motivational revelations about his struggles and others’. His tales have motivated multitudes of individuals to conquer their fears, reach their potential, and accomplish their dreams.The War of Art is split into three books. The first book is called Resistance: Defining the Enemy. He uses this chapter to call out what he believes as the root to most of our problems. He defines Resistance as “The enemy within” and a “Force of nature”. It’s a “repelling force. It’s negative”, “Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work”, and “Resistance aims to kill.” He says everyone has had a battle with Resistance and it’s the root to many of the issues we face and develop in our lives. Substance dependence, unhappiness, and anger are just some of the effects caused from our internal battle with this self-sabotage energy. Each chapter is poetically written to describe the way resistance can infiltrate our lives and destroy us from within. The goal of this chapter is to identify to readers Resistance’s characteristics so they can recognize and fight it when face to face with this malevolence.The second book is called Combating Resistance: Turning Pro. Pressfield uses the terms professional and amateur to describe the battle with Resistance. He explains that those defeated by Resistance think like amateurs, and professionals are equipped with the tools to overpower their Resistance and reach their potential. Some of these chapters describe a professional's attributes. They’re titled: A Professional is Patient, A Professional Acts in the Face of Fear, A Professional Reinvents Himself, etc. He uses stories and accounts of his own life and others, such as golfer Tiger Woods, to paint the picture of perseverance, focus, and strength. My favorite quote from this book comes from his chapter How to be Miserable. A marine himself, he briefly talks about how Marines are trained to love being miserable, to embrace the struggle, and fight to the death. The last line reads: “Because this is war, baby. And War is hell.”Book Three is called Beyond Resistance: The Higher Realm. This chapter aims to harness the psychic powers needed to fight the Resistance he described earlier. He uses terms such as angels, demons, and muses, but offers his more secular audience the option to think of these forces as abstract and impersonal, such as gravity, instincts, or universal forces. He claims we need these allies if we are ever to defeat the enemy of Resistance. He mentions the Athenian Xenophon who would make sacrifices to the gods and call for their aid before any expedition. His own version of this he calls invoking the Muse, a Greek mythology term used to describe the nine Goddesses, or even a person or personified force used as a source of inspiration to artists. Additionally, Pressfield goes on to describe the difference between the Ego and Self. With quotes from famous psychologists such as Freud and Jung, he believes the Ego is where Resistance lies, while the Self is where the angles, or good forces, live. He describes the characteristics of the ego and how it is the “part of the psyche that believes in material existence” and nothing more. While the Self is our deepest being, united to God, and is ever-growing and ever-evolving. The Ego hates the Self, Pressfield writes, and is the perpetrator for growth, progression, and success. He goes on to describe what the Authentic self looks like, how to defeat the hierarchical orientation, and how to unleash the artist within us.As a young aspiring professional on the cusp of a career and “the rest of my life”, this book struck the deepest cord in me and immediately earned its place in my list of books to re-read every year. It’s an easy read and I read it cover to cover in about three hours. It’s organized like a manual, with short chapters, and important titles and messages that will resonate with you at different points in your life. While reading its entirety is do-able, one can just as easily flip through the chapters and meditate on the headline and chapter that speaks to you most. It makes for the ultimate bed-side book for any artists looking for daily motivation to break through their creative struggles. Pressfield also seemed to speak to me specifically. I have long been a lover of Greek mythology and culture, Xenophon, and the Bhagavad-Gita, all which he mentions and parallels in his chapters. I was also a fan of the spiritual take-aways in his third book. The War of Art is a self-help book, but differs to many I have read. It is straight to the point, raw, and hard-hitting. While many self-help books rely on abstract and vague themes, Pressfield tells his readers his truth with his own words, as blunt as possible. It’s entertaining, easy to read, and powerful to anyone seeking help.Typically, I try to stay away from definitive statements, such as “Everyone would enjoy or resonate with this book.” We are all individuals that react differently to everything. But I do firmly believe this book would provide everyone of it’s readers a piece of something they have been looking for. We are all artists, and without unlocking the creative power within us, we find ourselves riddled with dilemmas and obstacles that are far from conquerable. For all willing, this book will help you identify the enemy, equip you with the tools to fight, and unlock the mystical powers that will help you live a fulfilling life.

Warning: Very long review. This book has helped me multiple times. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu coined the famous phrase ‘know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a hundred battles without disaster.’In The War of Art, Steven Pressfield launches into a similar discussion. In the first section we will discover our enemy: Resistance. The second section discusses our means for combat: Turning Pro. In the third and final section we will see that the battle is between our Self and our Ego.Resistance – Defining the Enemy. This is the first of 3 sections Pressfield shares with us on what he considers to be the enemy of the creator. Resistance is an internal force, the ‘enemy within.’ Defined as self-sabotage, resistance usually manifests as avoidance, procrastination, or inaction caused by fear which creates paralysis. Resistance, according to Pressfield, is invisible, insidious, implacable, internal, impersonal and universal. He elaborates on each of these adjectives (and more), unafraid to use a clever metaphor or simile to illustrate a point. For example, in the section ‘Resistance is infallible, Pressfield writes:“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.”Pressfield goes on to point out Resistance in its many guises: the way peers may be recruited as allies of Resistance when an artist starts to conquer Resistance; the people around her “begin acting strange…they are trying to sabotage her” because they are experiencing Resistance of their own. They may begin to feel guilty for not trying to reach their own potential To make themselves feel better, they pressure her either directly or indirectly to backslide. In my case, I have a couple of people who point out how hard I work, don’t I need to take some me time? That sort of thing….Resistance also encourages the artist’s tendency to quit at 99%, procrastinating work in order to not face completion of their work. Completion opens our work up to our peers for review and examination of others. He states that Resistance has no power of its own, only power it receives from our fear.Any one reading it will be able to identify where Resistance has dug it’s claws in at one time or another with many of his examples and definitions. I want to point out that nowhere in his book does Pressfield address the Resistance we also face via the internet, email, Facebook, etc. In one section he mentions completely missing Watergate because he was too busy writing. Apparently he is able to focus on his work so strongly these things that distract many of us have no appeal to him.The second section covers: Combating Resistance – Turning Pro. According to Pressfield, there’s no mystery about turning pro. You just make the decision and by an act of your will it is so. By turning pro, Pressfield is talking about the ideal of becoming a professional, a mindset. You make a decision to sit down and do your craft, or exercise, or whatever, NO MATTER WHAT. No matter what tries to distract you and stop you, you keep going until the day is done. You are professional in your dedication and behavior. “An amateur plays for fun, a professional for keeps.” The amateur lets a cold or minor distractions stop him. The professional knows he needs to do the work, and then get better. The amateur thinks he can quit anytime it gets tough and go back to something else. The professional doesn’t want to quit every time he hits a problem, he has discipline and determination to steady him.Turning pro means basically to prepare a work discipline and follow it. To paraphrase Pressfield’s definition: A pro shows up every day no matter what, stays on the job all day, and is in it for the long haul. For the pro, the stakes are high. Pros accept payment for their work (even if they don’t always make an income). Pros also master the technique of their work, have a sense of humor about their jobs, and receive real-world praise or blame. He explains the hangovers and colds and other things as excuses we use to deflect ourselves from our purpose and from fulfilling our call. An added benefit, if you really love what you do, you will be like a child who looks up from their activities to be surprised to find that it’s time for supper.Also, Pressfield makes a point that we are not to get our identity from the thing we are trying to create. You are still you. Your work should be work, not you. Aside from your calling, your life’s work, you should have an identity that stands alone. If you only have an identity in whatever you are trying to create, you leave yourself vulnerable to the attacks that will come. You will take it all personally and it should never be that way. Your work is what is being attacked, and you should be able to stand back and defend it objectively. Do not over invest your emotional well being in your success or failure. I think this is a common mistake made.You, Inc. – Pressman also brings up the benefits of making yourself a corporation. Even if you only think of yourself in this way it can reinforce the idea of professionalism in your work because it separates the artist-doing-the-work from the consciousness-running-the-show. I love his idea of having status meetings with himself. In corporate America, we have a status meeting every Monday morning, decide on a plan of action and who will take care of what part of that plan, then divvy out the assignments, type it up and distribute it to the various participants. He has one of those meetings with himself every Monday. He sits down and goes over his assignments, decides when to be responsible for what, and types it up and distributes it to himself. Sometimes as Joe-blow he is too intimidated to go out and pimp himself, but as Joe-blow Inc, he enjoys the pimping. He’s not him anymore. He’s Me, Inc.This third and final section talks about the muses and identifies the cause of Resistance through the Self and the Ego. Muses, angels, demons, geniuses, an input from the collective unconsciousness, all these Pressfield calls our allies, “equal and opposite powers…counterpoised against [Resistance].” These allies join us when we make the shift from being an amateur to a professional.In the second section, he heavily stresses professionalism. He states the most important thing about art is work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.“When we sit down day after day and keep grinding…The muse takes note of our dedication. She approves…we becomes like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come.”Following this simple but powerful truth, Pressfield talks about the day he finished his first book. He finally wrote, The End. He received this sage advice from his friend Paul: “Good for you. Start the next one today.” In my words: don’t stop now, you finally have a work ethic that is producing your art.Now: Ego and Self, and the battle between the two. Resistance has its seat in Ego. The Ego is that part of the psyche that believes in material existence, is concerned with its own preservation and comfort, with stasis and the physical, material world. The Ego likes things the way they are. It likes to be in control.The Self, according to Pressfield, is where we grow from. This is where our dreams and ideas come from. When we meditate or pray, this is the part of ourselves we are seeking. Self is our deepest being.Why does the Ego hate the self? According to Pressfield, its …”…because when we seat our consciousness in the Self, we put the ego out of business.” The Ego hates it when the creator sits down to create, whether it’s a book, a painting or an exercise routine. Ego hates to lose control, and tries to cripple Self. It hates creators because they are pathfinders to the future.Pressfield ends the book with a simple call to action: listen to your Self and take action in order to find out what you were meant to do. Once you figure it out, do it like a professional. If you don’t explore and utilize your gifts, you hurt yourself and everyone around you. If you do, great; you’re sharing your gifts with the world.Pressfield uses humor and a confident, competent demeanor in what he shares. He’s been there and done this, and wants to share the rewarding fruit he has to show for it, to encourage us to seek that fruit for ourselves. He wants us to be able to overcome our enemy, Resistance, and flourish with our own muses.We all encounter Resistance in one form or another (fear of failure, fear of success, procrastination, avoidance, distraction, etc.). This book is an extremely easy read, and was very encouraging to me personally. I would highly recommend it for anyone facing any new project in their life. You will be surprised by the things this book reveals to you, and you will also see yourself represented in more than one situation Pressfield shares. Steven Pressfield defines the enemy, offers a strategy for overcoming it and shows us the beautiful fruit we can have as a result of our labor: A completed work, a job well done. Eventually success. It all started for him when he was finally able to write: The End.

The War of Art, Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Battles, by Steven PressfieldIn evaluating such a book one usually begins by looking for the author’s stated purpose for writing it. Mr. Pressfield—as far as I could make out—doesn’t state his purpose. So, it’s difficult to say whether or not the book lives up to the purpose of writing it (Pressfield might counter by saying something like: “I wrote it because it was in me.”). Regardless, it seems appropriate to discern the purpose from the title: to show artists how to transcend the inner battles that prevent the artists’ creations, e.g., to help a writer beat writer’s block, etc. But the author fails to provide a “road map” or foil toward conquering artistic blocks.Pressfield writes a persuasive and unabridged description of a common denominator to the production of artistic endeavors, i.e., resistance. This description has itself helped me to become more efficient in my art. Presumably, it has also been helpful to others. But it seems important to note that the title is a bit misleading because Pressfield doesn’t really say how to break through your blocks. He essentially states that resistance is your problem then says: just do your art or don’t do your art; get over your fears or don’t get over your fears.Pros: It’s a great pep talk for your inner creatorCons: The title is a bit misleading—the book doesn’t give you a formula for overcoming your artistic blocksIs it worth your time? Would I buy it again having read the book? Yes. It was worth my time to read it. It’s a nice pep talk that I look forward to reading many more times. And yes I would buy it again given that I will read it again, and again.

The package arrived with no problem, the book is full with reflections on how to turn pro as an artist or creative and get working on your craft.

This book confirms many issues that I have faced as an artist over the years and provides solid rationale, examples and actionable advice on being a professional. Whatever your field.I read this book in one morning - it is an easy and enjoyable read. Highly recommend if you find getting your creative idea or project started and finished. I write music but this applies to anything.

Esse é aquele tipo de livro que vale a pena ler várias vezes, ele serve para diversas áreas da vida. A principal temática dele é sobre como lidar com nossos medos e construir a vida que desejamos. Apesar de não ter exercícios práticos, ele é cheio de reflexões e perguntas fundamentais para o seu desenvolvimento.

I came to know about this book in a podcast hosted by mark manson (of the subtle art of not giving...) where he told he uses this book himself to clear his own writer's block and mitigate procrastination.This book is a shrink for writers who wants to start writing again ( or any work that they feel a resistance from within)Mark manson was not wrong. This book does the job. Paperback is the best buy, as the book is not a dense read. Hardcover can be avoided.

Ok. I read or heard about this book enough times to be intrigued and I went and read it. And yeah, I get it. It's not what I'd usually consider would appeal to me, but it did. A great deal actually. Just a few underlines, but very powerful ones. I'm not too keen on the machoesque undertones, but nothing to really trip over. Just a stylistic choice. The message comes through loud and clear. And it's one worth hearing.