Steven Pressfield

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Studying great prose

  “I cut it out and saved it as an example of vivid, immediate, riveting prose.”

  Our notePressfield explains why he kept a specific letter by Lawrence of Arabia as a reference.

• Nature of Resistance

  “Resistance is protean. It shape-shifts. It lies. It dissembles. Its aim is to destroy us, body and soul.”

  Our noteDescribing the deceptive and destructive nature of the internal force that stops us from working.

• Ruthless Devotion

  “When you're free, you can start getting good at what you do. You have to make the choice to be ruthlessly devoted to your work.”

  Our noteOn the necessity of total commitment to one's craft to achieve excellence.

• Catching Ideas

  “Ideas for tunes and albums are constantly zinging through the atmosphere. "I've gotta catch 'em," Rose says, "before they wind up with Lucinda Williams."”

  Our noteQuoting Rosanne Cash on the necessity of being ready to capture ideas as they appear.

• The Interior Villain

  “The third type of villain, and the most satisfying dramatically, is the interior villain. The interior villain is inside the star herself.”

  Our noteDefining the most powerful type of conflict in storytelling.

• Daily output discipline

  “Make three calls a day, no matter what. Take no notice of your success rate. Keep making those calls, no matter how much you hate it.”

  Our notePressfield summarizes Nick Murray's advice for financial planners to overcome the fear of cold calling.

• Respect Without Recognition

  “There's a special respect given to those willing to help without guaranteed recognition in return.”

  Our noteHe explains the value of helping others without seeking public credit.

• Start next project

  “For you and me, finishing Book #1 (or #21) means only plunging in immediately on #2 or #22. We have to. That's the law.”

  Our noteSteven emphasizes that a professional's work never truly stops after one success or failure.

• Resistance as Compass

  “the more Resistance we feel to a potential project, the more important it is to the evolution of our artist's soul.”

  Our noteHe explains how to use fear and resistance as a guide for choosing which project to pursue.

• Facing extreme adversity

  “The Ten Thousand found themselves lost, cut off and surrounded by enemies, three months' march from safety.”

  Our notePressfield describes the dire situation of the Greek mercenaries stranded in the Persian Empire.

• Resilience in isolation

  “The ideal volunteer to face the loneliness and isolation of the desert was a working man, preferably a husband and father.”

  Our notePressfield describes the specific type of person chosen for high-stress desert commando missions.

• Joyful tools

  “I used it every day and it was a joy to work with.”

  Our noteSteven describes his experience using the SwissGear IBEX laptop backpack during his trip.

• Professional gear standards

  “I knew I was going to be doing a ton of interviewing, so I wanted something pro-level for sound quality, reliability and ease of use.”

  Our noteSteven explains why he chose a high-quality digital recorder for his field research.

• Narrative Architecture

  “What narrative architecture supports our tale from beginning to end?" For our purposes now [pre-pre-first draft], this doesn't have to be much. It can be as simple as this: Ahab sets out after Moby Dick.”

  Our noteSteven discusses the importance of a simple narrative backbone.

• Avoiding shadow careers

  “He takes a job for the money instead of for the passion and the love. He enters back into the shadow career that he left almost twenty years ago.”

  Our noteThe danger of choosing high-paying work that distracts from one's true calling.

• Respecting supporter time

  “Sending at once is a way of saying: "I respect your time. I understand you are busy. This is what I have going on.”

  Our noteExplaining why sending multiple products at once is more respectful to a network.

• Professionalism vs Amateurism

  “A professional shows up every day. A professional stays on the job all day, or with the equivalent of all day. A professional, as I said this before, does not take success or failure personally.”

  Our noteSteven explains the fundamental mindset shift required to move from struggling to succeeding in one's work.

• Action Over Feelings

  “An amateur worries about how they feel. Like, "Oh, I don't feel like getting out of bed this morning. I don't feel like really doing my work today." A professional doesn't care how they feel, they do it.”

  Our noteSteven emphasizes that professional habits are built on discipline rather than waiting for the right mood.

• Facilitating creative flow

  “It's our job to open the pipeline and get out of the way.”

  Our noteSteven defines the artist's role as a vessel for external inspiration.

• Knowing when to stop

  “I stop when I start making mistakes, when I start having typos and things like that. Then it's kind of like a workout at the gym. You know when you've reached the end”

  Our noteSteven discusses recognizing the point of diminishing returns in daily work.

• Avoid false economy

  “pressing forward at the end of a long day to get just a little bit more is the falsest kind of economy, because you pay for it the next day.”

  Our noteSteven quotes Steinbeck to explain why overworking at the end of the day is counterproductive.

• Equal work capacity

  “So, if you guys have a full-time job, and kids, and a family, and a wife, and a spouse, whatever, if you can squeeze out a couple of hours a day, you're on the same level with me, the same level with a full-time writer.”

  Our noteSteven explains that focused part-time work is as effective as full-time creative work.

• Side project potential

  “it is possible to have a full-time job and still do your artistic thing to a full-tilt version.”

  Our noteHe encourages people with full-time jobs to pursue their creative passions.

• Artists as Entrepreneurs

  “Are you a writer? A filmmaker? A dancer? Then you're an entrepreneur.”

  Our notePressfield asserts that creative professionals are fundamentally entrepreneurs.

• Input drives output

  “If you limit your intake, you'll limit your output. The more ideas entering your noggin' the more it'll have to chew on - and the more likely it is that you'll be a recipient of a bit of magic.”

  Our noteThe relationship between consuming diverse information and generating great ideas.

• Spending time wisely

  “It's important to save your time, but you've got to spend it, too.”

  Our noteSteven concludes that while focus is good, one must also spend time experiencing the world.