Summary

Resistance is the invisible, internal force that opposes meaningful work most fiercely when it matters. It appears as procrastination, fear, distraction, rationalization, and concern for status. Defeat it by turning professional: sit down every day, act in the face of fear, master technique, accept failure and adversity without taking them personally, and keep going for love of the game.

“Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’ shadow is resistance.”

“Humility - like rejection and criticism - is the external reflection of internal resistance.”

“If I were the last person on earth would I still do it?”

Chappy’s Review

Quick, fun to read, and motivating! Not quite my taste, though.

Key Takeaways

Notes

1: Resistance

• Introduction
  • “Every sun casts a shadow, and genius’ shadow is resistance”
  • Sitting down to write is the hard part, not writing itself
• Resistance is invisible
  • Felt, not seen
• Resistance is internal
  • Self-generated self-perpetuated
• Resistance is insidious
  • Always lying, full of crap
• Resistance is implacable
  • Cannot be reasoned with
• Resistance is impersonal
• Resistance is infallible
  • Will point you to true north
  • The more important the action, the more you will resist it
• Resistance is universal
• Resistance never sleeps
• Resistance plays for keeps
• Resistance is fueled by fear
  • We feed it with power by our fear of it
• Resistance only opposes in one direction
• Resistance is most powerful at the finish line
  • The danger is greatest when the finish line is in sight
• Resistance recruits allies
  • Others around you will resist, seeing it in themselves as well
  • Be ruthless with others and serve as an example to them, too
• —
• Resistance and procrastination
  • Easiest to rationalize
  • Can become a habit
• Resistance and sex
  • Distraction
  • Proof: hollowness
  • Fat, sugar, salt, chocolate too
• Resistance and trouble
  • Consumerism feeds on this
• Resistance and self-dramatization
  • We secretly like drama
• Resistance and self-medication
• Resistance and victimhood
  • A condition lends significance to one’s life
• Resistance and the choice of a mate
  • Fixer or get fixed
  • Disfigures love
• Resistance and this book
• Resistance and unhappiness
  • Becomes clinical
• Resistance and fundamentalism
  • We don’t know how to be free individualists
  • Bad philosophy
• Resistance and criticism
• Resistance and self-doubt
• Resistance and fear
  • Fear = important to growth and soul
• Resistance and love
• Resistance and being a star
  • Focus on the work, not the byproduct
• Resistance and isolation
  • You’re not alone
• Resistance and healing
• Resistance and healing
  • Can’t wait to be healed first
• Resistance and support
  • Take control of your life
• Resistance and rationalization
• Resistance can be beaten

2: Combating Resistance

• Professionals and amateurs
  • You must think like a pro
• A professional
  • Full time, sit down and do it
• What a writer’s day feels like
• How to be miserable
  • Love and take pride in being miserable
  • Dining on isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, humiliation
• We’re all pros already
  • Don’t over identify
  • Seek failure
  • Be grateful, you’re where you wanted to be (even in face of failure)
• For love of the game
• —
• A professional is patient
  • Patient, understands delayed gratification
  • Persistence
  • Concern yourself with the long haul
• A professional seeks order
  • Eliminate chaos
• A professional demystifies
• A professional acts in the face of fear
  • Know you can’t overcome fear and dread
  • Fear recedes in action
• A professional accepts no excuses
• A professional plays it as it lays
• A professional is prepared
  • Prepared to accept self-sabotage
• A professional does not show off
• A professional dedicates himself to mastering technique
• A professional does not hesitate to ask for help
• The professional distances herself from her instrument
• A professional does not take failure (or success) personally
• A professional endures adversity
  • “Humility - like rejection and criticism - is the external reflection of internal resistance”
• A professional self-validates
  • Don’t let others define you
• A professional recognizes her limitations
• A professional reinvents himself
• You, Inc.
  • Think of yourself as a corporation - good distancing, more objective
• A critter that keeps coming
• No mystery

3: Beyond Resistance

• Angels in the abstract
  • Allied forces against resistance
• Approaching the mystery
• Invoking the Muse
• Invoking the Muse, part two
• Testament of a visionary
• Invoking the Muse, part three
• The magic of making a start
  • 100% commit
• The magic of keeping going
  • Obsessive-driven spontaneous inspiration
• Life and death
• The ego and the self
• Experiencing the self
  • Demolish the ego to get to the self
• Fear
• The authentic self
• Territory versus hierarchy
• The hierarchical orientation
  • Hierarchy is beaten into us
• The artist and the hierarchy
  • (Reject status games)
  • Look within, not around
• The definition of a hack
• The territorial orientation
  • Own and earn your zone of genius
• The artist and the territory
• The difference between territory and hierarchy
  • “If I were the last person on earth would I still do it?”
• The supreme virtue
• The fruits of our labor
• Portrait of the artist
  • Humble
  • They are not the creators, only the instrument
• The artist’s life