Steven Pressfield has sold millions of books, seen his first novel become a Hollywood film…and he thinks talent is wildly overrated. Here are 19 things he taught me about fear, art, and channeling the creative muse: 1. The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying. 2. Find work you can do for its own sake - not fame, fortune, attention, or applause. 3. You can test if your desires are genuine by asking yourself: "If I were the last person on earth, would I still do it?” 4. Discipline beats talent when talent isn’t disciplined. Pressfield: “If you have discipline and no talent, you're way better off than if you have a lot of talent and no discipline.” 5. Every day you don't spend writing is a day spent putting off the work you really want to do, the things you really want to achieve, and the person you really want to become. 6. Pros know that you shouldn't wait to start writing until you have every idea. You find ideas by working. 7. The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it. 8. If you're going to do high-level creative work, you're going to have to get good at saying no. The committed writer needs an empty schedule. 9. The artist faces a daily battle between the life they live and the life they could live. Between the two lies The Resistance. 10. Are you living life on amateur mode? Here are the signs: “When we're living as amateurs, we're running away from our calling - meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves." 11. An addiction can become a surrogate for your calling too. Why? Because it takes work to follow a calling. It's hard. It hurts. It demands entering the pain zone of effort, risk, and exposure. 12. To write is to subject yourself to a certain kind of torture... to endure isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation. 13. Hesitation is the graveyard of great ideas. Pressfield: “A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” 14. Ignorance and arrogance are the artist and entrepreneur’s indispensable allies. They help you go through patches where a “sane” person would quit. 15. Ambition is precious: “Ambition is the most primal and sacred fundament of our being. To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls." 16. Creative work is not a selfish act or a bid for attention. 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. 17. The Blitzkrieg Method: During your first draft, you will be blasted by anxieties from all sides. If you slow down to deal with them, it’s over. He recommends the Blitzkrieg Method instead-if you come to an obstacle, go around it. Forward momentum is everything in a first draft. Get words onto the page. 18. To be a writer is to hold the warrior and the artist inside yourself. 19. It's time to turn pro: “The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
@HarryDry10 ай бұрын
My favourite podcast atm. Nothing like it out there. Love Pressfield's voice. Years of experience 🙏
@eugeniocg307910 ай бұрын
agreed
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Thank you!
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
@@eugeniocg3079 Appreciate you
@solmrx10 ай бұрын
Echoing every else here. This has easily, by far, become one of my favorite podcasts out there. Each week is just getting better and better! Solid stuff! 🔥
@bhargavchaudhari192110 ай бұрын
The podcast is getting better and better everytime 😭 Wisdom bombs dropping!
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Lots of good guests in the pipeline too
@bhargavchaudhari192110 ай бұрын
Won't miss them
@martinopietropoli10 ай бұрын
This has quickly become my favourite podcast. In honour of what many of your guests say, I take a lot of time in each episode to take notes and listen to certain parts again. Wonderful, thank you!
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Ah, I’m so happy to hear that
@Dino_MediciАй бұрын
Hey Martino, me too. Do you rec any fav eps?
@martinopietropoliАй бұрын
@@Dino_Medici yes I do: Kevin Kelly, Tim Urban, Ted Gioia, Sam Parr, Morgan Housel to name a few.
@Dino_MediciАй бұрын
@@martinopietropoli Tysm on it sir 🫡
@rahulsanghi606510 ай бұрын
I wait for these like I wait for a new episode of Succession
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
Hah! Love to hear that
@parvazc9310 ай бұрын
Same here. I literally mark each Wednesday on my calendar as a 'How I Write' podcast drop day.
@fragwagon7 ай бұрын
This deserves a lot more views.
@edblache62147 ай бұрын
Thank you David! Steven is so authentic and your questions are spot on. This has helped and amused me enormously.
@riccardocecco8 ай бұрын
Thanks David for doing this. I can feel you're really enjoying it. You're delivering a lot of value to us viewers... It's definitely one of the best podcasts out there! Keep it up man 👊
@heygauravsharma10 ай бұрын
Hey thanks David providing such an insightful conversation with Steven. I enjoyed it as well as learned a lot. Keep going.
@ganapathyakshay948310 ай бұрын
Thanks for bringing in one of my favorite writers! I recently stumbled upon your podcast and the guest lineup is simply amazing. Cheers all the way from India!
@ChippyPinkChannel4 ай бұрын
Excellent guest and conversation. Thank you!
@Mkube199910 ай бұрын
Please get Tarantino on this podcast!! Ask him how he develops plot ideasss
@mokgeniusm710 ай бұрын
I never pressed on a video so hard
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
👊
@eugeniocg307910 ай бұрын
let’s get itttt
@DavidPerellChannel10 ай бұрын
He's a legend
@TheCliffordma7 ай бұрын
Thank you for sharing such a lovely discussion.
@vic_and_hugh10 ай бұрын
When Pressfield does a writing interview, you stop what you're doing and push play.
@msbeehiiv9 ай бұрын
The War of Art is one of my all-time favorite books. It was great to watch this mesmerizing interview. David, you mentioned prayer and Jesus. Please read 1 Timothy 2:5. Jesus is our mediator. We can only get to God through him. We must pray through him to have our prayers heard.
@simonflossmann583210 ай бұрын
This podcast is so valuable! David, I would love to see an interview with Nicolas Cole.