Rating: 4/5 In den ersten zwei Teilen ein wirklich gutes und anregendes Buch. Am Ende wird es ein wenig zu spirituell für meinen Geschmack, aber darüber kann ich hinwegsehen. Der Ansatz, *resistance* als Gegner von Kreativität zu sehen und es quasi als Naturgewalt zu beschreiben, finde ich sehr überzeugend und auch wenn es vielleicht rein faktisch Quatsch ist, hilft diese Metapher sehr, über das Problem und Lösungsstrategien nachzudenken. Das tut Pressfield dann auch in der Folge und ich denke, dass die vielen Stellen, die ich mir herausgeschrieben habe, deutlich zeigen, dass das Buch lesenswert ist. ## Highlights ## New highlights added August 15, 2023 at 2:10 PM - Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against true healing. We all need it. But it has nothing to do with doing our work and it can be a colossal exercise in Resistance. Resistance loves “healing.” Resistance knows that the more psychic energy we expend dredging and re-dredging the tired, boring injustices of our personal lives, the less juice we have to do our work. ([Location 511](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=511)) - In my view, 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 professional loves it so much he dedicates his life to it. He commits full-time.   That’s what I mean when I say turning pro. ([Location 594](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=594)) - **==Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.”==** ([Location 601](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=601)) - by performing the mundane physical act of sitting down and starting to work, he set in motion a mysterious but infallible sequence of events that would produce inspiration, as surely as if the goddess had synchronized her watch with his. ([Location 606](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=606)) - What exactly are the qualities that define us as professionals? ([Location 659](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=659)) - 1) 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 every day. ([Location 660](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=660)) - 2) 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 show up no matter what. ([Location 662](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=662)) - 3) 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 he seeks our help. We don’t go home till the whistle blows. ([Location 665](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=665)) - 4) 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. ([Location 667](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=667)) - 5) The stakes for us are high and real. This is about survival, feeding our families, educating our children. It’s about eating. ([Location 670](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=670)) - 7) We do not overidentify with our jobs. We ([Location 673](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=673)) - 8) We master the technique of our jobs. ([Location 678](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=678)) - 9) We have a sense of humor about our jobs. ([Location 679](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=679)) - The amateur has not mastered the technique of his art. Nor does he expose himself to judgment in the real world. If we show our poem to our friend and our friend says, “It’s wonderful, I love it,” that’s not real-world feedback, that’s our friend being nice to us. Nothing is as empowering as real-world validation, even if it’s for failure. ([Location 687](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=687)) - My friend Tony Keppelman snapped me out of it by asking if I was gonna quit. Hell, no! “Then be happy. You’re where you wanted to be, aren’t you? So you’re taking a few blows. That’s the price for being in the arena and not on the sidelines. Stop complaining and be grateful.”   That was when I realized I had become a pro. I had not yet had a success. But I had had a real failure. ([Location 705](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=705)) - The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work. He knows that any job, whether it’s a novel or a kitchen remodel, takes twice as long as he thinks and costs twice as much. He accepts that. He recognizes it as reality. ([Location 739](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=739)) - A pro views her work as craft, not art. Not because she believes art is devoid of a mystical dimension. On the contrary. She understands that all creative endeavor is holy, but she doesn’t dwell on it. She knows if she thinks about that too much, it will paralyze her. So she concentrates on technique. The professional masters how, and leaves what and why to the gods. ([Location 754](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=754)) - The professional conducts his business in the real world. Adversity, injustice, bad hops and rotten calls, even good breaks and lucky bounces all comprise the ground over which the campaign must be waged. The field is level, the professional understands, only in heaven. ([Location 784](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=784)) - The professional respects his craft. He does not consider himself superior to it. He recognizes the contributions of those who have gone before him. He apprentices himself to them.   The professional dedicates himself to mastering technique not because he believes technique is a substitute for inspiration but because he wants to be in possession of the full arsenal of skills when inspiration does come. ([Location 804](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=804)) - The professional cannot take rejection personally because to do so reinforces Resistance. Editors are not the enemy; critics are not the enemy. Resistance is the enemy. The battle is inside our own heads. We cannot let external criticism, even if it’s true, fortify our internal foe. That foe is strong enough already.   A professional schools herself to stand apart from her performance, even as she gives herself to it heart and soul. ([Location 837](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=837)) - A PROFESSIONAL RECOGNIZES HER LIMITATIONS ([Location 906](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=906)) - She gets an agent, she gets a lawyer, she gets an accountant. She knows she can only be a professional at one thing. She brings in other pros and treats them with respect. ([Location 908](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=908)) - Making yourself a corporation (or just thinking of yourself in that way) reinforces the idea of professionalism because it separates the artist-doing-the-work from the will-and-consciousness-running-the-show. No matter how much abuse is heaped on the head of the former, the latter takes it in stride and keeps on trucking. ([Location 929](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=929)) - If we think of ourselves as a corporation, it gives us a healthy distance on ourselves. We’re less subjective. We don’t take blows as personally. We’re more cold-blooded; we can price our wares more realistically. ([Location 940](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=940)) - The essence of professionalism is the focus upon the work and its demands, while we are doing it, to the exclusion of all else. ([Location 948](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=948)) - 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. ([Location 960](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=960)) - Because the most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.   Why is this so important?   Because when we sit down day after day and keep grinding, something mysterious starts to happen. A process is set into motion by which, inevitably and infallibly, heaven comes to our aid. ([Location 989](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=989)) - **Hierarchisches vs. territoriales Arbeiten:** ^77f30d - **The artist can’t do his work hierarchically. He has to work territorially**. ([Location 1466](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=1466)) - What are the qualities of a territory?   **1) A territory provides sustenance.** Runners know what a territory is. So do rock climbers and kayakers and yogis. Artists and entrepreneurs know what a territory is. The swimmer who towels off after finishing her laps feels a helluva lot better than the tired, cranky person who dove into the pool thirty minutes earlier.   **2) A territory sustains us without any external input.** A territory is a closed feedback loop. Our role is to put in effort and love; the territory absorbs this and gives it back to us in the form of well-being.   When experts tell us that exercise (or any other effort-requiring activity) banishes depression, this is what they mean.   **3) A territory can only be claimed alone.** You can team with a partner, you can work out with a friend, but you only need yourself to soak up your territory’s juice.   **4) A territory can only be claimed by work.** When Arnold Schwarzenegger hits the gym, he’s on his own turf. But what made it his own are the hours and years of sweat he put in to claim it. A territory doesn’t give, it gives back.   **5) A territory returns exactly what you put in. Territories are fair. Every erg of energy you put in goes infallibly into your account.** A territory never devalues. A territory never crashes. What you deposited, you get back, dollar-for-dollar. ([Location 1475](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=1475)) - Here’s another test. Of any activity you do, ask yourself: If I were the last person on earth, would I still do it?   If you’re all alone on the planet, a hierarchical orientation makes no sense. There’s no one to impress. So, if you’d still pursue that activity, congratulations. You’re doing it territorially. ([Location 1519](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B007A4SDCG&location=1519))