“A vital gem… a kick in the ass.” – Esquire
Steven Pressfield is better known for being the author of The Legend Of Bagger Vance. This book was given to me by an old girlfriend to help me overcome some writer’s block I was having with my music career. Pressfield both inspires and attacks his readers for succumbing to the self-imposed distractions of life (which he terms “resistance”) that we allow to keep us from our greatest creative work. His insight has helped me get out of my own way numerous times in personal and professional quests requiring a long-term delayed-gratification outlook. I’ve discovered that never have as many chores and meaningless things to “accomplish” as when there is a significant creative project looming on my horizon. Pressfield reminds me that I should invest my energy in what matters, not the long list of work we do that never ends up in our obituary.
“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.” – Pressfield
This book is not an anti-procrastination self-help fluff book. I frequently remind my athletes, “The hardest thing to do is often the best thing to do” and The War Of Art reminds us how to work on the mastery of our craft.
Time Cole, Washington & Lee Women’s Volleyball Assistant Coach
