NOTE : Do the Work: Overcome Resistance and Get Out of Your Own Way
See all notes || ArchiveORIENTATION ENEMIES AND ALLIES
Enemies:{
* resistance : fear, self-doubt, procastination, addiction, distraction, timidity, ego and narcissism, self-loathing, perfectionism, e.t.c
* rational thoughts
* friends and family
}
war of art // am not reading that
RESISTANCE
- resistance is a force of nature
- resistance never sleep and fear doesn't go away
CODE:: THE BATTLE MUST BE FOUGHT ANEW EVERYDAY
Rational thought
The Greeks’ greatest poet understood that genius did not reside within his
fallible, mortal self—but came to him instead from some source that he
could neither command nor control, only invoke.
the deeper the source we work from, the better our stuff will be and the more tranformative it will be for us and for those we share it with.
Friends and Family
THOUGHTS**
so true, the last thing anyone would want is to remain as they are
OUR ALLIES
- Stupidity
- Stubbornness
- Blind faith
- Passion
- Assistance (the opposite of Resistance)
- Friends and family
STAY STUPID
A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. It’s only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.
- Don't think act We can always revise and revisit once we’ve acted. But we can accomplish nothing until we act.
Be Stubborn
One we commit to action, the worst thing we can do is stop. /** stubborness keeps us for stopping **/
we will sink our junkyard-dog teeth into resistance's ass and not let go, no matter how hard he kicks.
BLIND FAITH
Our mightiest ally (our indispensable ally) is belief
in something we cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or
feel.
Imagine a box with a lid. Hold the box in your hand. Now open it.
What’s inside?
with unshakeable faith that there will always be something in the box.
PASSION
- fear saps passion
Friends and Family
// This part seems very important
When art and inspiration and success and fame and money have come and
gone, who still loves us—and whom do we love?
**Only two things will remain with us across the river: our inhering genius and the hearts we love.**
what we do and whom we do it for. ?
Chapter 1
BEGINNING
Start before you are ready
- don't prepare begin
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 the resistance. The enemy is our chatting brain
when we start before we are ready we show huevos , our blood heats up, courage begets more courae.
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless
ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits
oneself, then Providence moves too.
Goethe’s couplets: “Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” Begin it now.
A Research Diet
- Research can become Resistance. We want to work, not prepare to work.
-
stay primitive:
The creative act is primitive. Its principles are of birth and genesis. """ Babies are born in blood and chaos; stars and galaxies come into being amid the release of massive primordial cataclysms. """ * it better to be primitive than to be sophisticated, and better to be stupid than smart. """ The most highly cultured mother gives birth sweating and dislocated and cursing like a sailor. """ That’s the place we inhabit as artists and innovators. It’s the place we must become comfortable with. **The hospital room may be spotless and sterile, but birth itself will always take place amid chaos, pain ,and blood.** -
Swing for the seats
* dont work small """ Start playing from power. We can always dial it back later. If we don’t swing for the seats from the start, we’ll never be able to drive a fastball into the upper deck. """ -
Lunch with my Mentor
* don't overthink * don't overprepare * Don’t let research become Resistance. * Don’t spend six months compiling shits* Discipline yourself to boil down your story/new business/philanthropic enterprise to a single page. -
How Leonardo Did It
1. Supper table stretching across the width of the canvas. 2. Jesus standing in the center, apostles arrayed in various postures left and right. 3. Perspective and background tailing off behind. *That’s all Mr. Da V needed to start. The rest is details.*
That’s Why They Call It Rewriting
There is no such thing as writing, only rewriting.
Get your idea down on paper. you can always tweak it later
start at the end
E.g. * focus on the users experience * major required features
If you’re preparing a seduction, determine the state of mind you want the process of romancing to bring your lover to.
"""
Figure out where you want to go; then work
backwards from there.
"""
Thoughts and Chatter
Chatter: when you shift your consciousness to a witnessing mode and to watch thoughts arise, float across your awareness, and then drift away, to be replaced by the next thought and the thought after that.
Don’t think : according the writers means don’t listen to the chatter. Pay no attention to those rambling, disjointed images and notions that drift across the movie screen of your mind.
chatter == resistance
Ready to Rock and Roll
- Stay primitive.
- Trust the soup.
- Swing for the seats.
- Be ready for Resistance.
Chapter 2
The Universe is not indifferent
when we decide to crate anything----------science, tech or to advance in the direction of a higher , nobler version of ourselves, we uncork from the universe, ineluctably, an equal and opposite reaction.
That reaction is Resistance
""" Resistance is an active, intelligent, protean malign force---tireless, relentles whose sole object is to stop us from becoming our best selves and from achieving our higher goals. """
The universe is not indifferant. it is actively hostile.
We can never eliminate Resistance. It will never
go away. But we can outsmart it, and we can enlist
allies that are as powerful as it is.
One thing not permited to do is take resistance lightly
FILL IN THE GAPS
""" Any project or enterprise can be broken down into beginning, middle, and end. Fill in the gaps; then fill in the gaps between the gaps. """
Cover the Canvas
""" One rule for first full working drafts: get them done ASAP. """
Don’t worry about quality. Act, don’t reflect. Momentum is everything.
Get the first version of your project done from A to Z as fast as you can.
Suspend All Self-Judgment
Unless you’re building a sailboat or the Taj Mahal, I give you a free pass to screw up as much as you like. //This seems more like software
""" Only one thing matters in this initial draft: get SOMETHING done, however flawed or imperfect. """
perfectionism == "resistance"
THOUGHTS
/** Fucking perfection
But
This can't be possible for all cases e.g. working on a [security, health, space] related software
i guess that's why testing is important or some sort of stimulation **/
The Crazier the better
suspending self-judjement doesn't just mean blowing off the the "you suck" voice means libration from conventional expectation
Stay stupid. Follow your unconventional, crazy
heart.
Ideas Do Not Come Linearly
Ideas come according to their own logic. That
logic is not rational. It’s not linear. We may get the
middle before we get the end. We may get the end
before we get the beginning. Be ready for this. Don’t
resist it.
Nothing is more fun than turning on the recorder
and hearing your own voice telling you a fantastic
idea that you had completely forgotten you had.
The Process
the idea generation process is in two stages
- Action
- Reflection
// never act and reflect at the same time
The Definition of Action and Reflection
In writing, “action” means putting words on paper. //writing the code
“Reflection” means evaluating what we have on paper. // testing
“Stay Stupid,” :: mean don’t self-censor, don’t indulge in self-doubt, don’t permit self-judgment.
Forget rational thought. Play. Play like a child.
""" Our job is not to control our idea; our job is to figure out what our idea is (and wants to be)—and then bring it into being. """
Bob Dylan’s Chronicles ????
The Answer Is Always Yes
When an idea pops into our head and we think, “No, this is too crazy,” … that’s the idea we want.
When we think, “This notion is completely off the wall … should I even take the time to work on this?” … the answer is yes.
Never doubt the soup. Never say no. The answer is always yes.
The Opposite of Resistance
The universe is also actively benevolent. You
should be feeling this now. You should be feeling a
tailwind.
The opposite of Resistance is Assistance.
A work-in-progress generates its own energy field.
You, the artist or entrepreneur, are pouring love into
the work; you are suffusing it with passion and
intention and hope. This is serious juju. The universe
responds to this. It has no choice.
""" Your work-in-progress produces its own gravitational field, created by your will and your attention. This field attracts like-spirited entities into its orbit. """
ideas
Assistance is the universal, immutable force of
creative manifestation, whose role since the Big Bang
has been to translate potential into being, to convert
dreams into reality.
Keep Working
How much time can you spare each day?
For that interval, close the door and—short of a family emergency or the outbreak of World War III—don’t let ANYBODY in.
Keep Working, Part Two
''' Ignore false negatives. Ignore false positives. Both are Resistance. '''
Act/Reflect, Part Two
Keep refining your understanding of the theme; keep narrowing it down
Pause and reflect. “What is this project
about?” “What is its theme?” “Is every element serving that theme?”
Fill in the Gaps, Part Two
Ask yourself what’s missing. Then fill that void.
Now We’re Rolling
''' weeks into projects when this start getting interesting '''
THE WALL
// when we hit the wall no progress
""" That “You suck” voice is back, howling in our head. """
""" We’re poised at the brink of a creative breakthrough and we can’t stand it. The prospect of success looms. We freak. Why did we start this project? We must have been insane. Who encouraged us? We want to wring their necks. Where are they now? Why can’t they help us? """
THE BELLY OF THE BEAST
**WELCOME TO HELL**
Principle Number One: There Is an Enemy
There is an enemy. There is an intelligent, active, malign force working against us.
Step one is to recognize this.
This recognition alone is enormously powerful. It saved my life, and it will save yours.
// i don't know where this is headed yet
principle Number Two: This Enemy is Implacable
Its aim is not to obstruct or to hamper or to
impede. Its aim is to kill.
principle number Three: This Enemy is Inside you
"peripheral opponents." : ~according to a former coach of the Laker pat riley
is fame and ego (not to mention crazed fans, the press, agents, sponsors and ex-wives) works against the players chances for on-court success.
""" Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. It does not arise from rivals, bosses, spouses, children, terrorists, lobbyists, or political adversaries. """
All this comes from us
Principle Number Four: The Enemy Is Inside You, But It Is Not You
"" What does that mean? It means you are not to blame for the voices of Resistance you hear in your head. ""
If you’ve got a head, you’ve got a voice of Resistance inside it.
Principle Number Five: The “Real You” Must Duel the “Resistance You”
You are the knight.
Resistance is the dragon.
Principle Number Six: Resistance Arises Second
The sixth principle of Resistance (and the key to overcoming it) is that Resistance arises second.
""" What comes first is the idea, the passion, the dream of the work we are so excited to create that it scares the hell out of us. """
Resistance is the response of the frightened, petty, small-time ego to the brave, generous, magnificent impulse of the creative self.
It means that before the dragon of Resistance
reared its ugly head and breathed fire into our faces,
there existed within us a force so potent and life-
affirming that it summoned this beast into being,
perversely, to combat it.
Resistance is more like the pain-in-the-ass schoolteacher who won’t let us climb that tree in the playground
""" Love for the material, love for the work, love for our brothers and sisters to whom we will offer our work as a gift. """
In Greek, the word is eros. Life force. Dynamis, creative drive.
// when face with resistance remember why you started
Principle Number Seven: The Opposite of Resistance Is Assistance
//stuffs that could cross your mind #resistance
""" “You’re too young, you’re too inexperienced; you’ve got no credentials, no credibility. Everyone who’s tried this has failed and you will, too. It can’t be done. Your plane will crash, you’re going to drown, you’re a madman who is attempting the impossible and you deserve whatever dire fate befalls you!” """
- love the idea
The seventh principle of Resistance is that we can align ourselves with
these universal forces of Assistance—this dream, this passion to make the
unmanifest manifest—and ride them into battle against the dragon.
Resistance’s Two Tests
Test number one :
- how bad do you want it ?
""" Dabbling • Interested • Intrigued but Uncertain • Passionate • Totally Committed """
Test Number Two :
- why do you want it ?
- For the babes (or the dudes)
- The money
- For fame
- Because I deserve it
- For power
- To prove my old man (or ex-spouse, mother, teacher, coach) wrong
- To serve my vision of how life/mankind ought to be
- For fun or beauty
- Because I have no choice
8,9
The Attitude Adjustment Chamber
Things you don't get to keep :
-
Your ego
-
Your sense of entitlement
-
Your impatience
-
Your fear
-
Your hope
-
Your anger
-
All grievances related to aspects of yourself dependent on the accident of birth.
-
All sense of personal exceptionalness dependent on the accident of birth.
The only items you get to keep are love for the
work, will to finish, and passion to serve the ethical
ch 3
THE BIG CRASH
""" The Big Crash is so predictable, across all fields of enterprise, that we can practically set our watches by it. """
Ringing The Bell
Just like the Navy silly training // US military, we also have a bell hanging over us
""" Ring the bell if ready to quit or drop out """
There’s a difference between Navy SEAL training and what you and I are facing now.
Our ordeal is harder. Because we're alone
CRASHES ARE GOOD
Crashes are hell, but in the end they’re good for us.
A crash means we have failed. We gave it everything we had and we came up short. A crash does not mean we are losers.
-
a crash mean we have to grow
-
a crash means we are at the threshold of learning something //means we're getting better, aquiring the wisdom of our craft.
-
it compels us to figure what works and what does'nt , and to understand the diff
""" We got ourselves into this mess by mistakes we made at the start. How? Were we lazy? Inattentive? Did we mean well but forget to factor in human nature? Did we assess reality incorrectly? """