So today I have a book recommendation and the start of a series for you and me.

About a year ago I was going through a bit of a creative rut. Wasn’t able to finish a lot of the creative endeavors I was taking on and was finding it frustrating.  You know how it is. You have lots of great ideas and will put everything aside to get to them. That includes put aside all the other great ideas you had before that made you put the other great ideas off to the side as well. 

I came across a review for The War of Art on a blog.

I thought it looked interesting so I added it to my next book order. I am very glad I did.

It was a really quick read I think I polished it off over two days. The thing was I couldn’t put it down. I totally thought he wrote the book just for me.  Everything he was talking about just hit home and was a big kick in the rear.   The thing is this book is not light and fluffy with little pat answers for life. Nor is it way off in the distance theory. It just plan spells out in a real simple with no sugar coating the reality that faces any individual tackling a goal whether it be in music, writing (Pressfield is an author), dance, business, or ministry.  

The book is divided into three separate books.  The first is “Resistance”. Basically this chapter covers why we don’t accomplish the things we set out to do. It was a real eye opener. Gave me insights into a lot of the things that I do that essentially sabotage what I’m trying to accomplish. 

The second is “Combating Resistance”. This is covering the idea of turning pro. What separates a pro from and amateur (more than just money). What mind set do we need to have in order to accomplish our goals. 

The third is “Beyond Resistance”. In the book Pressfield acknowledges the existence of God and the role that the higher realm plays in our lives. Now I would not agree in a lot of ways with Pressfield’s beliefs of who God is, but he does offer a lot of interesting thoughts in how our work is effected by things outside of us or this world. 

This is not (nor was it meant to be) a thorough review of the book. Just a strong recommendation of it for anyone that ever struggles with completing goals or has some larger ambitions. I have just finished reading the book for the third time and it still blows me away.

That leads me to the series that I am going to start here. As I’ve said in previous posts I have just left my ministry job. I have left to re pursue a career in music, to relaunch my recording studio and to explore some new ministry opportunities. Like I also said earlier in this post I have a tendency to get sidetracked from what I’m trying to accomplish. So what I am going to try to do is to post every Monday thoughts on fighting the resistance that stands in the way of achieving our aspirations (whether they are in the area of ministry, art, exercise, whatever).  I am going to use parts of the book as a framework or starting point but also share the things that are going in my life (I’m going to be quite honest) as I launch in this new artistic and professional endeavor with the hope that it will be relevant to you wherever you are at. I am not trying to make this into a self help blog or anything like that. Just a place to be honest as we all try to work towards whatever it is God is calling us to.