Get Out of Your Own Way

The Brilliance of Steven Pressfield

I say I want to be a writer…and then I do other things. I shop, I read, I phone a friend, I make music (which I’m lucky enough to say I get to do for a living). I get things done to pay the bills and then *gasp* pay them. All of this makes up the “living” that life requires and that I honestly do enjoy. And yet…I want to be a writer.

This is exactly where the problem begins.

Because wanting it has me feeling into the lack of being it.

It's an odd dance we engage in, isn't it? The tug-of-war between our aspirations and our actions, between the dreams we intend to nurture and the reality we inhabit. We say we want to be writers, artists, comedians, (sub your preferred creative profession here) and then somehow let the blank page become a daunting adversary. We find ourselves caught in the crossfire of procrastination, held back by doubts, fears, and distractions — all of which we subconsciously welcome. After all, no one can force any of these negative feelings on us. But that doesn’t mean they’re easy to shake.

In his seminal work "The War of Art," Steven Pressfield delves into this very idea. He writes, "Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance." Resistance is the force that haunts us, urging us to delay, to defer, to do…anything else.

To break free from this cycle involves doing the thing that feels the most counterintuitive: acknowledging yourself as a writer. Pressfield asserts, "The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work." Meaning, that claiming this identity isn't about waiting for some grand epiphany or validation from the universe; it's about beginning (and maintaining) the practice, embracing discipline, and the sheer act of putting words to paper.

In other words — get out of your own way.

What a motherf*cking paradox. Dreaming about something seems so much easier and safer than actually pursuing it. After all, you can't lose something that you never had. *cue song by Ryann* But herein lies the crux of the matter: trying and failing is infinitely better than never attempting what you want in the first place. As Pressfield puts it, "What are you really afraid of? The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome.”