Resistance and the Secret to Creativity

We’ve talked already about the Secret Art of Relentless Follow-Up and my “Do Things That Will Make a Difference Today” mantra. Well, there’s one more mindset trick we have to discuss and it has to do with creativity. 

It’s no secret to you all that I spend a lot of time staring at a blank page trying to come up with ideas to write about. The weekly cadence of Profit+ is demanding and fresh ideas don’t always come so easily. 

Thankfully, the writing part is never the issue. Once I have a good idea, the words just flow. But getting there? That’s another story! 

Often, I’ll spend several agonizing hours starting and stopping essays, writing a few sentences and then promptly deleting them, and distracting myself with emails, texts, and social media. All the while I’m quietly dying inside and wondering whether I’ll ever be able to come up with another good idea again.

It’s not that bad but you get the point: creative work is hard! 

Fortunately, in all the intellectual wandering I’ve done I’ve come across several great books that have helped me overcome the daunting challenge of creative work.

Nearly two decades ago, I discovered Steven Pressfield, an incredible writer and a kindred spirit. Pressfield, another great lover of the Ancient World, is perhaps most famous for his “Gates of Fire”—a vivid fictional rendition of the 300 Spartans and their legendary last stand at Thermopylae. This book inspired a whole generation of American warriors and was mandatory reading during the heyday of the Global War on Terror. He’s been a prolific writer and has even had works turned into blockbuster movies like “The Legend of Bagger Vance.” 

Over the years, I’ve read a bunch of his books but none has been more impactful than his “The War of Art.” Whether you are engaged in creative work or not, I highly, highly recommend this book. Pressfield’s ideas here are timeless and helpful in so many areas of modern life.

The “War of Art” is about the intense psychological struggle that comes with all creative effort. The core idea of the book is “Resistance,” the word Pressfield gives for the feeling you get in your stomach when you are staring at a blank page, screen, or canvas and don’t know what to do. It’s not one thing but many—self-sabotage, arrogance, fear, self-doubt, …—and it’s the reason you procrastinate. Resistance is basically whatever it is that gets in the way of you actually pursuing your creative dreams.

Pressfield argues that we have two lives: the life we live and the unlived life within us. Resistance is the force that stands between the two.  Most people make the mistake of turning away from resistance rather than confronting it, choosing to stay in what Pressfield describes as the “hierarchical” mindset. This is the place where you: 

• Compete against all others in the order

• Evaluate happiness by rank in the order

• Act toward others based on their rank

• & Evaluate every act/decision based upon how it will affect others within the hierarchy.

Sound familiar? It certainly does for me and living this way has never been fun, that’s for sure!

Fortunately, there’s a different and better way to go about seeking happiness in life. The trick, according to Pressfield, is to learn how to identify territorially rather than hierarchically. 

And just what does that mean? 

Well, think of this way. Territory is just another way of saying “authentic work.” While in the book Pressfield is talking specifically about classic creative endeavor, the idea applies more broadly. It’s art, taking care of others, leadership, teaching, and even business—basically anytime you give the best of yourself in service to others without thinking too much about what you’ll get in return, you’re in the territory. Pressfield defines “territory” as what:

• Provides sustenance

• Sustains without external input

• Can only be claimed alone

• Can only be claimed by work

  &

• Returns exactly what you put in

And describes a simple test you can use to distinguish between the two ways of being. You ask yourself: 

“If I was the last person on the Earth would I still do it?”

If your answer is “yes,” then you are in the territorial realm.  If not, you are still stuck playing the game of hierarchy. 

Pressfield’s answer, his secret to the war of art—i.e. learning how to break through resistance and live territorially—is so satisfyingly simple, practical, and tangible. And I can attest that it absolutely works. The answer is to just show-up and do the work. He uses this extended analogy of “going pro” and points out this is something we all already know how to do. 

He's so right about this. Anyone who has a career or job has gone pro in something, probably without even realizing it! Maybe we’ve all gone pro in the wrong place—i.e. in the hierarchy—but at least we know how to do it!

What does it mean to go pro? Here’s Pressfield’s list:

1. Show up every day

2. Show up no matter what

3. Stay on the job all day

4. Stay committed over the long haul

5. The stakes are high and real

6. Get paid

7. Do NOT OVERIDENTIFY with your job

8. Master the technique of your job

9. Have a sense of humor about your job

10. Receive blame or praise in the real world

His advice is simple but genius: take these 10 principles and apply them to territory instead of hierarchy. It’s absolutely brilliant.

Not only does it work, but also, it is empirically valid. There’s a phenomenal little book on the subject actually, called “Daily Rituals” by Mason Currey. If you ever wondered what Beethoven’s morning routine looked like or how Dickens managed to write so many books or just what did Einstein do all day, then this is the book for you. It’s a fascinating read that dives into the daily routines of dozens of history’s most interesting people and proves, over and over again, that Pressfield is right about resistance! 

While all these remarkable individuals have unique habits, quirks, and schedules, they share one thing in common: they went full pro in their craft and at some point in the day, usually every single day, they sat down and just did the work. The writers wrote. The painters painted. The thinkers thought. The common thread to great achievement is the steadfast commitment and discipline to practice your craft every single day. 

So, let me close by asking you this:

Where are you feeling resistance in your life? What’s the work that you need to just sit down and do every day?

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