Tag: Steven Pressfield

Steven Pressfield on Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, Part 3

In the book, Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, Steven Pressfield shares his inspiration and techniques to help us make the life-altering transformation.

These are some of my favorite takeaways from reading the book.

Steve talks about the word “ass” in the physical sense, but it also has a metaphorical meaning. “Ass” means commitment.

As in, “His ass is on the line.” Or “If she screws this up, it’ll be her ass.”

Putting our ass “where our heart wants to be” means we will “commit emotionally, psychologically, spiritually to our dreams.”

While relocating to a new physical location might be essential for working on our dreams, it is even more critical that we put our asses in the proper place metaphorically.

When we commit, we signal to those established professionals who might hire, mentor, or promote us, a newly arrived aspirant. The newcomer has demonstrated commitment. He is here. He has left there.

All that matter is that we have taken action. We are here to do the work, and we have left other baggage behind while we are here.

Commitment is not a one-time deal. We want to demonstrate commitment over time. We also want to show commitment in the face of adversity.

There are questions we can ask ourselves:

“How much do we want it?”

“What sacrifices are we willing to make to see this project succeed?”

“Have we ‘moved’ – lock, stock, and barrel – to our inner Paris?”

Sometimes it takes another person to believe in us. When we got lost or started to flounder, that person seized our ass and dragged it back to where our heart wanted to be.

We need to treasure those people in our lives.

Steven Pressfield on Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, Part 2

In the book, Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, Steven Pressfield shares his inspiration and techniques to help us make the life-altering transformation.

These are some of my favorite takeaways from reading the book.

Magic can happen when we move to the same physical location with other dreamers who have already put their asses there.

These dreamers are our peers and fellow aspirants. We get to discuss techniques and trade notes with them. None of the group synergies could happen if we all stayed home.

Another reason to consider relocating is to where our dream work needs to happen. When we move our material ass to the geographic site of our dreams, our peers and potential mentors might think, This person is serious. She has committed. She has burned the boats. She is one of us.

How does success really happen? Keep working.

Reason One: “Working means you’re getting paid. Every buck means you’re a working pro.” This also means we are toiling in our chosen field.

Reason Two: “When you work, you learn. Everybody has something to teach you.” Everyone we meet in our chosen field will likely have something we can learn from.

Reason Three: “You’re making friends.” We never know who we work with today might be a connection to something even more significant or meaningful down the road.

But before this network of friends and mentors can help us up the ladder, we must be there where they are.

Steven Pressfield on Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, Part 1

In the book, Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, Steven Pressfield shares his inspiration and techniques to help us make the life-altering transformation.

These are some of my favorite takeaways from reading the book.

First and foremost, what does Steve mean when he says, “Put your ass where your heart wants to be?” He suggests we must station our physical body where our dream work will and must happen.

Want to program a computer? Sit down at the keyboard.

Want to paint? Step up before the easel.

Want to dance? Get our butt into the rehearsal studio.

Why is this simple advice so hard to do? Fear!

Fear will always be with us, so there is no way to eliminate it. The only thing we can do to counter the fear is to do the work. “Tremendous power lies in the simple, physical act of stationing our body at the epicenter of our dream.”

Sometimes, “Put Your Ass…” might mean a new physical location.

Want to work in country music? Consider Nashville, TN.

Want to act in movies? Consider Hollywood, CA.

Steve says, “Leave the Town or city where you live and move to the hub of the creative or entrepreneurial world where your dreams are most likely to come true.”

Another reason to relocate is to work with the people whom we can learn from. Role models and knowledgeable friends are what we all learn from. Those are the people we watch and copy.

For some fields, we might have to move because the new location is where the industry pros and masters congregate. Sometimes it is not for our hearts to be in the right place. Our body must be there too.

Pressfield on the Professional Mindset as a Practice

In his book, Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield teaches us how to navigate the passage from the amateur life to professional practice.

These are my takeaways from reading the book.

According to Pressfield, to “have a practice” is to follow a rigorous, prescribed regimen to elevate the mind and the spirit to a higher level. Pressfield also defined the practice as the dedicated, daily exercise of commitment, will, and focused intention aimed, on one level, at the achievement of mastery in a field.

We should consider setting up our practice with the following elements:

A practice has a space

That space is sacred. We want to encourage the qualities of Order, Commitment, Passion, Love, Intensity, Beauty, and Humility when we practice our work of art.

A practice has a time

When we practice our work, we want to approach it via order, commitment and passionate intention. When we do our work daily in the same space at the same time, powerful energy of intention, dedication, and commitment build up around us.

A practice has an intention

Focused practice is the only way to achieving mastery. Our intention as professionals is to get better and to go deeper into our chosen field.

We come to a practice as warriors

Every time the professional enters the practice space, she knows that will be facing a powerful opponent. That powerful opponent is herself, and she will be battling the demon of Resistance all day long.

We come to a practice in humility

We must bring intention and intensity to our practice, but we leave ego and arrogance behind at the entrance of our workspace.

We come to a practice as students

Even after we achieve “mastery” in our field, we are always learning as a student when we come to the practice field.

A practice is lifelong

For a professional, there is no finish line.

Unlike a project, life is a constant pursuit.

Pressfield on the Qualities of the Professional, Part 2

In his book, Turning Pro, Steven Pressfield teaches us how to navigate the passage from the amateur life to professional practice.

These are my takeaways from reading the book.

The professional defers gratification.

The professional recognizes that it is our privilege to wake up every morning and get the opportunity to do our work in the way we hope to shape. The professional also knows that not all work leads to an immediate return in the short-term.

The professional is willing to put forth the work necessary for the much-more-significant long-term benefits.

The professional does not wait for inspiration.

The amateur waits for inspiration to strike to score that one, big idea. The professional knows that, only through hard work and consistent effort, the Muse will pay her a visit.

The professional does not give his power away to others.

The amateur wants to be a team player and waits to be told what to do next by the group leader. The professional appreciates the collaboration with others, and she knows that she needs to continue to do her work with or without outside help.

The professional helps others.

The amateur believes the model of scarcity works for everything we do. The amateur hoards knowledge and ideas; afraid of someone else will rip off their ideas and become successful with them.

The professional believes in the model of abundance; if she shares her ideas with someone, both she and the other person will have the same knowledge and information.

The professional loves to share and teach others of what she knows, but the pro refuses to be iconized. The professional knows sharing is generous while being iconized is an act of selfishness.