In Authentic Swing, Steven Pressfield gives an idea of the work involved in penning a major novel. In reading this, I feel like I got a closer connection to the work, what needs doing, and how to get about doing it. Two things stood out to me.
1) There is no substitute for showing up. You can’t get out of it with a magic wand. There is no silver bullet. The Calvary is not coming to save you. You have to have the fortitude to show up every day, without question, ready to work. Like the saying goes – “inspiration is for amateurs.” If you want to define yourself as a pro, your first and most important job is showing up and being deliberate.The rest will take care of itself.
This takes a lot of self-discipline. I am getting better but watching it makes me painfully aware the work of the true artist, the true professional. It is ruthless. Everyone else has resigned themselves to react to the world around them, and the true artist responds. Responding takes time, and forces you to think and live differently than everyone else.
2) You cannot copy your way to success. It is the authentic swing, and it cannot and will not be copied. In golf, every professional golfer has a swing that is unique to them. The results may vary, but they have their own swing. If they try to emulate someone elses swing they suffer. In work, good work, this stands also. How you work, what you work on, and the conditions of that work are things you have to work out. The result will be work that is vastly different from other people, and that becomes your start point. What is good for you may not be good for me.
Stephen King’s pencil, Steven Pressfield’s schedule, and Steve Job’s shirt selection won’t help you get the work that you need to do done. I am guilty of this myself, I love to stock tools that will “increase productivity”, but what does that matter if I am producing none. Any number multiplied by 0 is always 0 no mater what the other side is.
So, lets get to work :-).
From the desk of Adam Thomas 