It's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write

Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.

Resistance, or Death Wish, is the destructive force inside human nature that rises whenever we consider a tough, long-term course of action that might do for us or others something that's actually good

First, last, and always, the professional focuses on mastery of the craft

The day-by-day, step-by-step campaign of the professional: preparation, order, patience, endurance, acting in the face of fear and failure—no excuses, no bullshit

When we sit down each day and do our work, power concentrates around us . . . we become like a magnetized rod that attracts iron filings. Ideas come. Insights accrete

Talent: the innate power to discover the hidden connection between two things—images, ideas, words—that no one else has ever seen before. Link them, and create for the world a third, utterly unique work

How many pages have I produced? I don't care. Are they any 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 day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance

If you believe in God (and I do) you must declare Resistance evil, for it prevents us from achieving the life God intended when She endowed each of us with our own unique genius

Genius is an inner spirit, holy and inviolable, which watches over us, guiding us to our calling

"The enemy is a very good teacher." — the Dalai Lama

Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it

Resistance obstructs movement only from a lower sphere to a higher sphere. It kicks in when we seek to pursue a calling in the arts, launch an innovative enterprise, or evolve to a higher station morally, ethically, or spiritually

Resistance has no strength of its own. Every ounce of juice it possesses comes from us. We feed it with power by our fear of it. Master that fear and we conquer Resistance

Everyone who has a body experiences Resistance

Resistance is not out to get you personally. It doesn't know who you are and doesn't care. Resistance is a force of nature. It acts objectively

The professional must be alert for this counterattack. Be wary at the end. Don't open that bag of wind

The best and only thing that one artist can do for another is to serve as an example and an inspiration

Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny. This second, we can turn the tables on Resistance. This second, we can sit down and do our work

The working artist will not tolerate trouble in her life because she knows trouble prevents her from doing her work. The working artist banishes from her world all sources of trouble. She harnesses the urge for trouble and transforms it in her work

Instead of applying self-knowledge, self-discipline, delayed gratification and hard work, we simply consume a product

As artists and professionals it is our obligation to enact our own internal revolution, a private insurrection inside our own skulls. In this uprising we free ourselves from the tyranny of consumer culture. We overthrow the programming of advertising, movies, video games, magazines, TV, and MTV by which we have been hypnotized from the cradle. We unplug ourselves from the grid by recognizing that we will never cure our restlessness by contributing our disposable income to the bottom line of Bullshit, Inc., but only by doing our work

The truly free individual is free only to the extent of her own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them

Self-doubt can be an ally. This is because it serves as an indicator of aspiration. It reflects love, love of something we dream of doing, and desire, desire to do it. If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), 'Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?' chances are you are

The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death

The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it

Success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work

The professional concentrates on the work and allows rewards to come or not come, whatever they like

The amateur plays for fun. The professional plays for keeps

In order for a book (or any project or enterprise) to hold our attention for the length of time it takes to unfold itself, it has to plug into some internal perplexity or passion that is of paramount importance to us

The athlete knows the day will never come when she wakes up pain-free. She has to play hurt

When your deeper Self delivers a dream like that, don't talk about it. Don't dilute its power. The dream is for you. It's between you and your Muse. Shut up and use it

Rationalization is Resistance's right-hand man. Its job is to keep us from feeling the shame we would feel if we truly faced what cowards we are for not doing our work

I write only when inspiration strikes. Fortunately, it strikes every morning at nine o'clock sharp

The Principle of Priority, which states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what's important first

I'm done with my chores now. It's time. I say my prayer and head out on the hunt

Set one foot in front of another and keep climbing

The artist committing herself to her calling has volunteered for hell, whether she knows it or not. She will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation

We show up every day. We might do it only because we have to, to keep from getting fired. But we do it

We show up no matter what. In sickness and in health, come hell or high water, we stagger in to the factory. We might do it only so as not to let down our co-workers, or for other, less noble reasons. But we do it

We stay on the job all day. Our minds may wander, but our bodies remain at the wheel. We pick up the phone when it rings, we assist the customer when she seeks our help. We don't go home till the whistle blows

We are committed over the long haul. Next year we may go to another job, another company, another country. But we'll still be working. Until we hit the lottery, we are part of the labor force

We do not overidentify with our jobs. We may take pride in our work, we may stay late and come in on weekends, but we recognize that we are not our job descriptions. The amateur, on the other hand, overidentifies with her avocation, her artistic aspiration. She defines herself by it. She is a musician, a painter, a playwright. Resistance loves this. Resistance knows that the amateur composer will never write her symphony because she is overly invested in its success and overterrified of its failure. The amateur takes it so seriously it paralyzes her

We master the technique of our jobs

We have a sense of humor about our jobs

The professional, though she accepts money, does her work out of love. She has to love it. Otherwise she wouldn't devote her life to it of her own free will

A PROFESSIONAL IS PATIENT

The professional masters how, and leaves what and why to the gods

The artist cannot look to others to validate her efforts or her calling

The professional shuts up. She doesn't talk about it. She does her work

The professional's goal is not victory (success will come by itself when it wants to) but to handle herself, her insides, as sturdily and steadily as she can

A PROFESSIONAL DEDICATES HERSELF TO MASTERING TECHNIQUE

A PROFESSIONAL SEEKS ORDER

A PROFESSIONAL ACTS IN THE FACE OF FEAR

A PROFESSIONAL ACCEPTS NO EXCUSES

A PROFESSIONAL PLAYS IT AS IT LAYS

A PROFESSIONAL IS PREPARED

A PROFESSIONAL DOES NOT SHOW OFF

The professional respects her craft. She does not consider herself superior to it. She recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before her. She apprentices herself to them. The professional dedicates herself to mastering technique not because she believes technique is a substitute for inspiration but because she wants to be in possession of the full arsenal of skills when inspiration does come

A PROFESSIONAL DOES NOT HESITATE TO ASK FOR HELP

A PROFESSIONAL DISTANCES HERSELF FROM HER INSTRUMENT

A PROFESSIONAL DOES NOT TAKE FAILURE (OR SUCCESS) PERSONALLY

A professional schools herself to stand apart from her performance, even as she gives herself to it heart and soul. The Bhagavad-Gita tells us we have a right only to our labor, not to the fruits of our labor. All the warrior can give is her life; all the athlete can do is leave everything on the field

The professional loves her work. She is invested in it wholeheartedly. But she does not forget that the work is not her. Her artistic self contains many works and many performances. Already the next is percolating inside her. The next will be better, and the one after that better still

The professional self-validates. She is tough-minded. In the face of indifference or adulation, she assesses her stuff coldly and objectively. Where it fell short, she'll improve it. Where it triumphed, she'll make it better still. She'll work harder. She'll be back tomorrow

The professional cannot let herself take humiliation personally. Humiliation, like rejection and criticism, is the external reflection of internal Resistance

The professional endures adversity. She lets the birdshit splash down on her slicker, remembering that it comes clean with a heavy-duty hosing. She herself, her creative center, cannot be buried, even beneath a mountain of guano. Her core is bulletproof. Nothing can touch it unless she lets it

It's better to be in the arena, getting stomped by the bull, than to be up in the stands or out in the parking lot

Control your reaction and govern your emotion. Don't take it personally. Do your job

The professional cannot allow the actions of others to define her reality

Nothing matters but that she keep working. Short of a family crisis or the outbreak of World War III, the professional shows up, ready to serve the gods

Resistance wants us to cede sovereignty to others. It wants us to stake our self-worth, our identity, our reason for being, on the response of others to our work

The professional learns to recognize envy-driven criticism and to take it for what it is: the supreme compliment. The critic hates most that which she would have done herself if she had had the guts

Every Monday, I sit down and go over my assignments. Then I type it up and distribute it to myself

There's no mystery to turning pro. It's a decision brought about by an act of will. We make up our minds to view ourselves as pros and we do it. Simple as that

As Resistance works to keep us from becoming who we were born to be, equal and opposite powers are counterpoised against it. These are our allies and angels

The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying

"Eternity is in love with the creations of time." – William Blake

Before I sit down to work, I'll take a minute and show respect to this unseen Power who can make or break me

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would not otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no woman would have dreamed would come her way

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic, and power in it. Begin it now

When we conceive an enterprise and commit to it in the face of our fears, something wonderful happens. A crack appears in the membrane. Like the first craze when a chick pecks at the inside of its shell. Angel midwives congregate around us; they assist as we give birth to ourselves, to that person we were born to be, to the one whose destiny was encoded in our soul, our daimon, our genius

The artist must operate territorially. She must do her work for its own sake

We must do our work for its own sake, not for fortune or attention or applause

We are servants of the Mystery. We were put here on earth to act as agents of the Infinite, to bring into existence that which is not yet, but which will be, through us

To acknowledge that reality, to efface all ego, to let the work come through us and give it back freely to its source, that, in my opinion, is as true to reality as it gets

Every breath we take, every heartbeat, every evolution of every cell comes from God and is sustained by God every second, just as every creation, invention, every bar of music or line of verse, every thought, vision, fantasy, every dumbass flop and stroke of genius comes from that infinite intelligence that created us and the universe in all its dimensions, out of the Void, the field of infinite potential, primal chaos, the Muse

Artists over time acquire modesty and humility

Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention on the part of the actor. It's a gift to the world and every being in it. Don't cheat us of your contribution. Give us what you've got