The War Of Art

The War Of Art brings some much needed tough love to all artists, business people and creatives who spend more time battling the resistance against work than actually working, by identifying the procrastinating forces at play and pulling out the rug from under their feet.

Have you ever had that feeling that you are here to do something great? Maybe you feel you owe the world a great book, a new approach to fitness, or even a blockbuster movie.

If so, today’s a different day than most days for you. Because instead of waking up, thinking about it for a second, and then shrugging it off, you’re actually going to deal with it.

The force that makes you swallow your urge to pursue your dream is called Resistance (the capital R is important), and everyone in the world struggles with it – you’re not the only one.

It’s this negative, opposing, ghastly little voice that tells you to stay at your job and not risk failure, that you’re not good enough to paint something great and that you can always start working out tomorrow.

Resistance manifests itself in the form of fear of failure, procrastination and self-doubt and, worst of all, is universal. It doesn’t exclusively speak to you, it targets everybody.

Will Smith was afraid to meet with Quincy Jones before becoming the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, John Lee Dumas was afraid to launch Entrepreneur On Fire, and Henry Fonda threw up before every single performance even long after he was successful.

Everyone struggles with Resistance. Don’t let that be your excuse.

So what do you do to combat Resistance? What any professional would do: you work. Stop treating your dream like it’s a hobby, it’s your dream for crying out loud! If your dream is really this thing that you want to be with all your heart, that you want to center your life around, then how come you treat it like a second cousins once removed’s BBQ party? Don’t just tinker around for a few hours here and there, go all in, all chips into the pot. When you treat your dream like your regular, full-time job, you can transfer a lot of the skills you apply to the latter to the former, even if they’re not related at all. Do you show up to your job on time? I bet you do. Do you keep working when shit hits the fan? I bet you do. Do the same for your dream. All pro’s know this: I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp. – W. Somerset Maugham Schedule time to work on it, every single day, and then just…