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Steven Pressfield

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Famous Steven Pressfield Quotes

“Turning pro is a mindset. If we are struggling with fear, self-sabotage, procrastination, self-doubt, etc., the problem is, we’re thinking like amateurs. Amateurs don’t show up. Amateurs crap out. Amateurs let adversity defeat them. The pro thinks differently. He shows up, he does his work, he keeps on truckin’, no matter what.”

IfsThinkingDoeSelfMatterShowsProblemStruggleDoubtAdversityNo Matter WhatDefeatMindsetEtcProcrastinationCrapSabotageSelf-doubtProcrastinatingSelf Sabotage
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.”

IfsRealSelfArtistChanceAskingScaredFinding YourselfChances AreInnovatorsCounterfeitReal OnesSelf Confident
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“I was keenly conscious of the comrades-in-arms who had fallen with me. A bond surpassing by a hundredfold that which I had known in life bound me to them. I felt a sense of inexpressible relief and realized that I had feared, more than death, separation from them. I apprehended that excruciating war survivor's torment, the sense of isolation and self-betrayal experienced by those who had elected to cling yet to breath when their comrades had let loose their grip.”

WarSelfFeltKnownArmsConsciousBreathsBoundsBetrayalSeparationFallenIsolationReliefSurvivorTormentComradeSurpassingSelf Betrayal
Book:Gates Of Fire
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“For what can be more noble than to slay oneself? Not literally. Not with a blade in the guts. But to extinguish the selfish self within, that part which looks only to its own preservation, to save its own skin. That, I saw, was the victory you Spartans had gained over yourselves. That was the glue. It was what you had learned and it made me stay, to learn it too.”

LooksMadeSelfSawsVictorySkinsOneselfNobleSelfishGutsPreservationBladesGlue
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember our rule of thumb: The more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it. Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance. Therefore the more fear we feel about a specific enterprise, the more certain we can be that that enterprise is important to us and to the growth of our soul. That's why we feel so much Resistance. If it meant nothing to us, there'd be no Resistance.”

IfsFeelsImportantSoulSelfRememberCertainGrowthDoubtCallingDegreesScaredResistanceEnterpriseThumbsSelf-doubtIndicators
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.”

KnowsSelfArtistHellDoubtCallingDespairDietsRejectionIsolationContemptHumiliationRidiculeDurationDiningSelf-doubt
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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“Our enemy is not lack of preparation; it’s not the difficulty of the project or the state of the marketplace or the emptiness of our bank account. The enemy is our chattering brain, which, if we give it so much as a nanosecond, will start producing excuses, alibis, transparent self-justifications and a million reasons why we can’t/shouldn’t/won’t do what we know we need to do.”

IfsKnowsNeedsGivingSelfStatesReasonBrainEnemyMillionsProjectsAccountsDifficultyExcusePreparationReason WhyEmptinessJustificationTransparentMarketplaceBank AccountsSelf JustificationAlibis
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“When we are succeeding - that is, when we have begun to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage, when we are advancing in our craft and evolving to a higher level - that's when panic strikes. When we experience panic, it means that we're about to cross a threshold. We're poised on the doorstep of a higher plane.”

MeanSelfLevelsDoubtHigherSucceedCrossesOvercomingStrikesCraftsEvolvePlanesPanicThresholdAdvancingHigher LevelSabotageSelf-doubtDoorstepSelf Sabotage
Author:Steven Pressfield
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“It may be that the human race is not ready for freedom. The air of liberty may be too rarefied for us to breathe... The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them.”

HumansMayLongSelfSeemsIndividualRaceLibertyAirReadyMastersBreatheHuman RaceParadoxMasteryLong AgoSelf MasteryNot Ready
Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles
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