Golden Nugget Podcast Review is where I break down podcasters’ shows and present their wisdom in small bite size quotes so you can get the best of the best in 5 mins or less.
Podcast Review #3: Marie Forleo, Hosts Author Steven Pressfield. Overcoming Resistance and Why Talent Doesn’t Matter
This review is on the Marie TV show where Marie Forleo interviews the author, Steven Pressfield.
If you’re not familiar with Steven, please check him out here. He’s the best selling author of The Legend of Bagger Vance, Gates of Fire, and The War of Art (to name a few).
In summary – Many of us struggle to create or tackle a big goal. Whether we want to write a book, start painting or want that big promotion – we find our selves in a state of resistance. Steven defines resistance as the voice in our own head that keeps us from doing work.
Resistance sounds like…
“Who am I to be a life coach. Who would listen to me?”
“Now that everyone knows me and my work, what if I disappoint them?”
“Nobody is going to read this”
“Everyone is going to think I should get a real job that provides security and a weekly paycheck”
OR, sometimes we DON’T put it off and we sit down to write that first blog. And then find ourselves sweating when we hit the post button to never again return to the keyboard to write blog number two. All of this and much more, Steven refers to as the Resistance. He explains if you create, you experience resistance. And unfortunately, it’ll always be there, begging us to not do the thing we’re meant to do. Which is why Steven helps his audience understand Resistance, how to predict it and most importantly, how to deal with it.
So, if you’ve struggled over the years as an entrepreneur, creator, artist, photographer, actor or whatever your creative field is, this one is for you!
Without further ado, here’s your summary and golden nuggets:
Steven’s Wisdom Nugget – On considering what projects to work on….
“Projects come to us. Almost like assignments. And we have to follow them.”
How many times have you heard that little voice in your head asking you to do something and you get excited about the possibilities — and you IGNORE IT?! Or are too afraid to take action?
“We can not control what we work on..the only thing we can control….how professionally we work, how we manage our emotions. How we manage our expectations, how we deal with failure and what our level of aspiration is, how hard we try, how patient we are.”
Steven goes on to talk about figuring yourself out and what you really want to do in life.
“You don’t have that kind of clarion bell that tells you-you’re going to be Bob Dylan at the age of 19.”
And Marie says:
“But if you keep showing up and experimenting and listening to that inner voice, there’s a good chance you’ll find it (what you’re meant to do).”
Steven explains the Resistance (with a capital R) – What he describes as that voice in your head that tells you all the reasons why YOU SHOULD NOT DO SOMETHING!
“There seems to be a force in the world that is a negative force against us and any dream we would have. If the dream is a tree, resistance is the shadow. As soon as the tree appears, the shadow appears.”
“It’s that negative force that tries to prevent us from doing.”
“Overcoming this force or Resistance is far more important than talent or anything else. A million people have talent but few people can take “it” from A to Z.”
“The ability to overcome resistance, self-sabotage, and self-doubt is way more important than talent.”
“Resistance is so diabolical: has it’s own intelligence so even when you’ve done something a thousand times it comes back up with more subtle rationalizations to trick you into taking a break. So, unfortunately, it never gets easier.”
“Some people have mistaken the notion they’ll arrive at some point or that it will become easy and they’ll stop having those “voices”/resistance.”
Steven goes on to say how it helps us though, how it serves a purpose.
“Resistance is like the villain in a movie. If there was no villain, there’d be no movie. So resistance gives meaning to everything.”
Steven on being able to move through the Resistance is teaching yourself to be a professional and not an amateur.
“Turning pro means….
there’s such thing as amateurs and professionals. Why people get defeated is because they let the Resistance win and they are amateurs.”
“A Professional …gets up every morning and does the work. Doesn’t take days off (only to refresh). When a pro hits adversity, they simply rally. It’s a different mindset.”
“Thinking of yourself as a pro versus an amateur is a huge plus.”
Marie Golden Nugget:
“You don’t necessarily always feel like it, but you show up and you make it happen.”
A huge golden nugget is when Steven speaks on self-validation being a part of being a pro:
“At some point, you have to acquire the ability to read your own stuff and know it’s good enough or not.”
“Self-validation is very important. Not looking to other people for this. If you listen to everyone else, it’s over.”
Steven golden nugget in starting a project:
“For any project – get it on one page. Boil it down to the essentials.”
“Put your ass where your heart wants to be.”
A simple way of saying, show up and od the work!
Practical advice/applicability:
- Show up, and do work even when/if you don’t feel like it (when it’s your life’s work), which takes you from being an amateur to a professional. A good example of this – LIkely Lebron James sometimes doesn’t feel like showing up to practice or sometimes he may feel sick or tired or injured but he still shows up.
- You’ll always have self-doubt along the way. Figure out how to self assure your own work. I have to say, this one was a huge one for me. I have a tendency to want and need positive feedback from others to keep going on a project — if I do not get this, I typically quit.
- Knowing what to create doesn’t always come so easily. It takes a lot of exploring and paying attention to the “muse”. But the “muse” will not show up if you’re doing nothing, so at the very least, try and do…and see where it leads you. Explore!
- Self-doubt is normal — nobody is immune to it so best be at the very least, prepared for it.
- Resistance isn’t something we feel from the universe or other people – Resistance is actually getting in our own way. Telling yourself lies — this is a natural thing that happens and happens to everyone. It’s that voice in your head telling you not to do something. Find a way to work through it, that’s what makes you different from the person next to you. It’s what makes you a professional. And it’s what will help you get the work done you’re meant to do.
Steven quote of the show (from his book):
“Suspending self-judgment doesn’t just mean blowing up the “you suck” voice in our heads. It also means liberating ourselves from conventional expectations to what we think our work ought to be or should look like. Stay stupid, follow your unconventional crazy heart”