“There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us. Step one is to recognize this. This recognition alone is enormously powerful. It saved my life, and it will save yours.” — Steven Pressfield Could you be getting in your way of producing great work? Have you started a project but never finished? Would you like to do work that matters, but don’t know where to start?The answer is Do the Work, a manifesto by bestselling author Steven Pressfield, that will show you that it’s not about better ideas, it’s about actually doing the work. Do the Work is a weapon against Resistance – a tool that will help you take action and successfully ship projects out the door. Picking up where The War of Art and Turning Pro left off, Do The Work takes the reader from the start to the finish of any long-form project—novel, screenplay, album, software piece, you name it. Do The Work identifies the predictable Resistance Points along the way and walks you through each of them. No, you are not crazy. No, you are not alone. No, you are not the first person to “hit the wall” in Act Two. Do The Work charts the territory. It’s the stage-by-stage road map for taking your project from Page One to THE END.Product Description: This limited quantity, deluxe edition includes a signed copy of Do the Work, and a hand-engraved metal placard, a hefty piece of burnished steel laser engraved with a 16th century image of St. George slaying the dragon with a reminder to BEAT RESISTANCE. Approximate size 3 x 5 – ideal for any desktop.
The Domino Project chose this laser engraved steel plate because it’s hefty, strong, and unbendable, which is exactly what we think Do the Work invokes. Inspired by the important lessons shared in the text, this limited edition collectible is a visual reminder that you must slay the dragon if you wish to succeed. It’s a signpost on the road to finishing the work that reminds you to always “Beat Resistance.”
Behind the Scenes: Steven Pressfield Signs Do the Work
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A Q&A with Steven Pressfield
Question: What is the distinction between Do the Work and War of Art, the book where you first introduced Resistance? Does Do the Work take it a step further?
Steven Pressfield: Do the Work is structured to take the reader from A to Z. If the reader has a project they want to start or complete, such as a new business they want to open or a book they want to write, Do the Work is designed to take them from starting to shipping to hitting all the predictable resistance points along the way. I know you’re familiar with these moments; The beginning, the middle, and all the moments in between just before you ship and then just after you ship. Do the Work guides you from the start of the project and takes you all the way through.
It’s about getting off your behind and starting something. And Seth Godin writes about this, that once you start, you have to finish; you don’t get off the hook half way through. I recently got an email from a guy who said, “Help. I’m stuck.” He was in a class and he had to write a screenplay and he was a quarter of the way through. Normally I would cheer him on, but just for fun, I gave him a little program to do; I put on my instructor voice and said, “Do this, do that, do this, do that.” It worked because right away he got over a couple speed bumps and took it all the way to the finish line. He loved it! I’d always been too shy to do that before, but I tried the assertive tone of voice and it really worked–he responded really well to it. So I thought, let me try that tone of voice in Do the Work.
Question: What did you tell him to do?
Steven Pressfield: One of the first things I told him to do was to banish the self-censor. I could tell he was frozen, worrying, “Is this going to be good? Is this going to be perfect? So I told him, “Take the next five days and write for two hours everyday. I don’t care what else is in your life–banish it. When you write for those two hours, start on minute one and don’t think for one second all the way through until minute 120. Just write, don’t self censor. Don’t do anything.” That really seemed to get him moving and gave him permission to not be paralyzed with seeking perfection.
Continue reading our interview with Steven Pressfield
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