On this cast, Ray and Augusto discuss overcoming resistance, using Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art and the psychological and practical aspects of dealing with resistance.

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In this Cast

Ray Sidney-Smith

Augusto Pinaud

Show Notes

Resources we mention, including links to them will be provided here. Please listen to the episode for context.

Steven Pressfield

The Legend of Bagger Vance (book) (movie) (IMDB)

The War of Art

Turning Pro

Do the Work

Seth Godin

Getting Things Done by David Allen

Criticism of The War of Art by Psychologist Frederick Heide (See section entitled, “Criticism”)

Changeology by John C. Norcross, PhD (Productivity Book Group discussion) (website with exercises)

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence by Daniel Goleman, PhD

Pugh decision matrix

Raw Text Transcript

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are you ready to manage your work and

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personal world better to live a more

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fulfilling productive life then you've

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come to the right place

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welcome to productivity cast the weekly

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show about all things productivity here

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are your hosts ray Sydney Smith and

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gusto pan out welcome back everybody

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this is Ray Sidney-Smith and Augusto

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Pinaud good morning good morning how's

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it going this is productivity cast the

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weekly show about all things personal

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productivity and today on this show we

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are gonna be talking about resistance

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there is probably nobody better to

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discuss resistance than the author that

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we'll be discussing and his book which

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is Steven Pressfield and the war of art

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so who's to tell us a little bit about

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Steven Pressfield

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I know his sort of his Wikipedia

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biography but I think you know him a

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little bit better in terms of the

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background and why this book you brought

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up the topic and you sort of have

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championed this this topic and so I'm

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I'm curious about you know what really

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jumped out about pressfield's background

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and and what you know sort of sparked

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your interest in his work and just as

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sort of a little bit of a background for

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folks before you get started at gusto is

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that Pressfield at least at the time

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we're recording

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I think his 73 or 74 years old and he is

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an American author he's written both

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fiction and nonfiction and screenplays

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and people probably most likely know him

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from The Legend of badger fans that's

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probably as big as because it's turned

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into that you know the 2000 film as of

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recent in couple last years several

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years ago he has started a publishing

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house called black Irish books and he

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started that with his his agent Sean

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Coyne and so he has a small publishing

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house but anyway tell us tell us a

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little bit more about Steven Pressfield

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and what makes this topic so near and

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dear to you Lucedale you know press

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field as you said most people know who

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is because of the first book he wrote

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got into

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a movie and and that's you know sadly a

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lot of the reference for the people to

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know that is if the the movie more than

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more than that that said he has

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participated in other movies even some

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of them that people really know but but

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he's here's a quite interesting story

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when he wrote he wrote a book that I

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have no way to to to prove what I'm

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going to say but I think he wrote the

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war of heart for himself and I thought

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telling a story for what his his

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struggles to be in a writer and honestly

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I don't think he thought he was going to

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have that much success but that's

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because he was as he details in the book

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he was homeless living out of his car at

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the time he was writing the war part

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that's why he probably didn't think it

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was gonna be one success well you know

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uh press Hilton right now enjoy a

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certain status as a writer he published

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he bombs delay your burger ones he had

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published some books on his history

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if you fiction history or historic

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fiction if you like history and Romans

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and World War two really his I maybe I

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like them so his books even though some

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of them are our fiction are amazing on

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the content on the historical facts that

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tied up was that fiction to the point

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that really you can come and run and if

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you don't know enough about some of

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those stories you know come and think

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that they have more reality than fiction

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that is one of the things that actually

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make him amazing as a writer his his his

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second novel gates of fires is taught to

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the US military the Naval Academy and at

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Quantico four Marines this is this is

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not like second-class historical fiction

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this is hardcore stuff right right

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one of the things that make him really

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cool really special as a writer is he

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has been able

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to show his humanity you know it takes

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at least on my experience when you look

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at writers and famous people you really

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find two kind of them the ones who are

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perfect and never struggle okay and it

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was expected but they were going to get

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there and the ones who show you all the

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marks that they were led you in their

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way you know I I can tell you as a

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writer I have published II you know

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eleven books and I wish to tell you the

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second one was easier than the first one

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and Dale Evans was easier than the

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second one and sadly that's a lie

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at least has been a lie for me every

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book causes a struggle I'm right now

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finishing a book that is it's difficult

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you know there is a point on writers

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that's what I call the valley of despair

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whatever in his dark mushy you know

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everything that you kind of dislike and

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the only way to finish that book is to

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grow through that valley of despair and

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the work of art come to tell you

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Pressfield version of that he talks to

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what he called the resistance and the

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resistance as he define it is that

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little thing that little voice that tell

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you not to do it but tell you all the

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reasons why you should not do it and

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tell you all the reasons why you should

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quit and when he published that book I

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think it was around 2002 it was really

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this up at the book on his phone it was

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the first time that somebody pinpoint

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that resistance and pinpoint the

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difference between what he called an

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amateur and Arana Pro when he'd make the

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distinction the difference is not that

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the pro doesn't have this resistance the

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difference is the proud owner stop

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because the resistance and he make all

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the difference and even tell his own

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story of when he as a writer changed

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from being what he called

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an amateur rider to being a pro rider

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