LEADERSHIP LIBRARY

IN BRIEF

This is one of Steven Pressfield’s short motivational books. It argues for taking action—“Do you want to write? Sit down at the keyboard”—and reprises his themes on Resistance from The War of Art and Turning Pro. However, he also comments on the nature of finding one’s subject and touching base with the creative subconscious.

KEY CONCEPTS

An Artist Has a Subject

“You have a subject too. You were born with it. You will discover it on your artist’s journey.” (p. 14)

“Subject is deeper than topic. It’s not ‘what it’s about,’ it’s what it’s really about.” (p. 15)

The Artist Learns How to Start

“This sounds obvious, so self-evident and yet… Not one aspirant in a hundred, in my experience, is capable of pulling the trigger, jumping out of the airplane, diving head-first into the icy pool.” (p. 76)

The Artist Learns Emotional Distance

“The artist is not the book. Or the movie. Or the startup. The artist learns that she is not to be held accountable to her first ‘you,’ but to her second. The second self, her real self, is the true audience and the true judge of her work.” (p. 83)

The Superconscious

“I’ve got a superconscious, and so do you. Our problem, you and I, is that we don't know how to access it or, if we do, we’re too terrified to take the chance. The artist’s journey, as we’ve said, is about linking the conscious mind to the superconscious. It’s about learning to shuttle back and forth between the two.” (p. 101)

Quotables

“I used to write at a desk that faced a wall. My friends would ask, ‘Why don’t you turn the desk around so you have a view outside?’ I don’t care about the view outside. My focus is interior.” (p. 34)

“The great secret that every artist and mystic knows is that profound can be reached best by concentrating upon the mundane. Do you want to write? Sit down at the keyboard. Wanna paint? Stand before an easel. Wanna dance? Get your butt into the studio. Want the goddess to show up for you? Show up for her.” (p. 158)

“A powerful destiny lies coiled inside you. This force is neither a dumb, robotic tape or some dusty hieroglyph left from millions of years ago, but an active, dynamic intelligent presence—endlessly creative, ever-mutating, responsive-in-the-moment—supporting and guiding you as you evolve and advance. (pp. 169-70)

“Flesh-and-blood individuals will enter your life at precisely the time and place you need them. These persons will play the role of archetypes—mentors and lovers, boon companions, even animal spirits, tricksters—as will corresponding foes and antagonists, tempers and temptresses, enemies, shape-shifters.” (pp. 169-70)