All that counts is for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance.

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.

Are you a writer who doesn’t write, a painter who doesn’t paint, an entrepreneur who never starts a venture? Then you know what Resistance is.

Does Resistance have to disfigure and cripple our lives before we wake up to its existence?

The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.

The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day.

We don’t tell ourselves, “I’m never going to write my symphony.” Instead we say, “I am going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.”

The truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery.

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

The amateur does not love the game enough. If he did, he would not pursue it as a sideline, distinct from his “real” vocation.

The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome.

The field is level, the professional understands, only in heaven.

The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it.

By toiling beside the front door of technique, he leaves room for genius to enter by the back.

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.

Tomorrow morning the critic will be gone, but the writer will still be there facing the blank page.

The Ego produces Resistance and attacks the awakening artist.

Fear That We Will Succeed.

To labor in the arts for any reason other than love is prostitution.

Of any activity you do, ask yourself: If I were the last person on earth, would I still do it?

If you were meant to cure cancer or write a symphony or crack cold fusion and you don’t do it, you not only hurt yourself, even destroy yourself. You hurt your children. You hurt me. You hurt the planet.

The qualities that define a professional:

1. We show up every day.
2. We show up no matter what.
3. We stay on the job all day.
4. We are committed over the long haul.
5. The stakes for us are high and real.
6. We accept remuneration for our labor.
7. We do not overidentify with our jobs.
8. We master the technique of our jobs.
9. We have a sense of humor about our jobs.
10. We receive praise or blame in the real world.