Today I found out about another great podcast. I highly recommend checking out this specific episode, with two great folks holding a deep conversation about creative work:

• Brian Koppelman is the host, filmmaker, writer and amongst other things, executive producer of one of my favourite shows: Billions
• Steven Pressfield is the guest  – he’s the author of countless books, and the one is mostly referenced is “The war of art”

I love how Brian clearly shows he’s read Pressfield and deeply reflected on the war with Resistance: he asks meaningful questions and goes to the root of the problem.

If you read the book, concepts will be familiar: I came across Pressfield through the work of Seth Godin and read him with great pleasure (if you haven’t, give it a go). Routine then made me forget some fundamental truths, and this acted as a great reminder of key principles for anyone working on a creative endeavour.

Some takeaways:

• Fear (what Pressfield calls the “Resistance”) is not going to go away. You just need a “place to put it”. Just like Seth says about marathon runners: “you need a place to put the tired”

• Not only it will be always there, it can actually be reframed as a useful signal that you’re up to something important. When you’re approaching meaningful work, a strong force inside you is going to resist it. The more meaningful the work, the more it will push you back to mundane tasks and meaningless habits, well inside your comfort zone

• Why are we scared, and why do we harm our potential for success? Pressfield admit he doesn’t know, he has a theory, and this was an interesting part of the conversation. He says that we might be afraid of what we can find, afraid to be the best version of ourselves, just like Marianne Williamson said. Though Brian points out: maybe we’re afraid to find out that the best is not enough, not amazing as it could be, so we don’t want to find out…

• I think I understand now why the ancients would speak about a Daemon and the Muses. These forces are so deep, battling inside you, that it helps thinking about them as real, personal entities, either working against you, challenging you, or inspiring you. They are forces that don’t seem to belong to the rational conscious world, after all: no matter how religious / spiritual you are, if you’re struggling with some form of artistic creation, it might help you see that way. Fight the demon!

• Become a pro: it doesn’t mean to get paid, but an attitude towards your best work: put in the hours, prioritise it, and don’t focus on the outcome but on the process. Find your art, sit down and do it, even if it’s just 30 minutes per day

• Social media and the business of distraction: it’s the perfect business to feed our demons, and please our resistance. Pressfield is not Facebook or Twitter for that exact reason. The argument is becoming stronger and stronger…