Impressions
Before I start any book project, I take a few hours & re-read The War of Art. It is the greatest book ever written on creative projects. – Ryan Holiday
Ryan is one of my favorite authors. If you don’t know the gentleman, read his book Ego is The Enemy to start your journey.
I did not know that Ryan loved this book. I truly believe it’s one of the best books ever written to say goodbye to procrastination. The book will literally motivate you to start whatever has been pending for days, months, or even years.
These are highlights from the book, and let me assure you that the notes will not replace the book. The notes are based on my situation and what I felt was important related to my situation.
My notes are just tiny tidbits. Derek explained it well: reading notes like you are reading the punchline of the joke, but you do not understand the context.
Anyway, here are the notes based on my observations, which are constantly changing every time I read this book.
Notes
It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.
Defining the Enemy
I saw myself staring back guilty-eyed from every page. But then Book Two gave me a battle; Book Three, a vision of victory; and as I closed The War of Art, I felt a surge of positive calm.
Taking action is the key. Many people in the world are great at explaining situations, but they don’t know how to take action. Let’s take a writer as an example. How many pages have you produced?
Steven explained in the book, I don’t care,
Are they good?
I don’t even think about it.
All that matters is I’ve put in my time and hit it with all I’ve got. All that counts is that, for this sessions, I have overcome Resistance.
Let me recall the first sentence of the notes.
You want to be a writer.
What is the hardest part?
Trust me, it’s not the writing part.
The hardest part is sitting down to write; sitting down is Resistance.
The enemy is a very good teacher. – Dalai Lama
The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t just put off our lives today; we put them off until our deathbed.
When I began this book, Resistance almost beat me. As soon as I sat down and began, I felt okay.
Things that create Resistance
- Artistic expression
- Entrepreneurship
- Diet
- Spiritual improvement
- Exercise
- Breaking bad habits
- Building good habits
- Learning
- Emotional commitment
By the way, Resistance will never go away. It doesn’t matter how disciplined you are in your life. You will learn how to deal with it better.
Start now before it’s too late.
When we see others beginning to live their authentic selves, it drives us crazy. When we criticise other people, we are probably doing it out of Resistance.
The author explained that individuals who are realized in their own lives almost never criticize others.
Defeating Resistance is like giving birth.
It seems absolutely impossible until you remember that women have been pulling it off successfully, with support and with our support, for 50 million years.
It is one thing to study war and another thing to live the warrior’s life. – Telamon of Arcadia
The amateur plays for fun. The professional plays for keeps.
Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration.
“I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied.
“Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp”.
Always remember the Principle of Priority
- You must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important
- You must do what’s important first.
What’s important?
It’s the WORK.
The professional masters know-how and leave what and why to the gods.
Somerset Maugham doesn’t wait for inspiration; she takes action each day at the same time.
Keep working despite critiques.
Tomorrow morning, the critic will be gone, but the writer will still be there facing the blank page. Nothing matters but that he keeps working.
The professional blows critics off. He doesnt even hear them. Critics, he reminds himslef, are the unwitting mouth-pieces of Resistance and as such can be truly cunning and prenicious.
The ancient Spartans believed that if they did their work, no force on earth could stand against them. They worked hard to regard the enemy, any enemy, as nameless and faceless.
Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.