“Resistance is the most toxic force on the planet. It is the root of more unhappiness than poverty, disease, and erectile dysfunction. To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less than we are and were born to be.”
- Steven Pressfield

If you are an “amateur,” the ever-so-clever resistance takes the passion you have and makes it your enemy. The eloquent Steven Pressfield (we seriously love this guy) explains it like this:

“Resistance outwits the amateur with the oldest trick in the book: It uses his own enthusiasm against him. Resistance gets us to plunge into a project with an overambitious and unrealistic timetable for its completion. It knows we can’t sustain that level of intensity. We will hit the wall. We will crash.”

It relates back to when we talked about instant gratification. The amateur expects that things will happen quickly. The professional, on the other hand, understands that things don’t always happen immediately. Sometimes you have to plant seeds and wait for them to sprout. The professional is the tortoise, not the hare.

“The professional arms himself with patience, not only to give the stars time to align in his career, but to keep himself from flaming out in each individual work. He knows that any job, whether it’s a novel or a kitchen remodel, takes twice as long as he thinks and costs twice as much. He accepts that. He recognizes it as reality.”

A crucial part of living in the grey is finding the balance between passion and patience. Respect your enthusiasm but conserve your energy. Be prepared for the long haul, the ups and downs, the inevitable failures and rejections. It’s all worth it in the end.

When it comes to your career - are you an amateur or a professional?

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