|
| |
On Being A Professional Vs. Amateur
I was lucky
enough to have been given this book by Casey
McPherson, who as it happens is an amazing musician who I have no doubt soon
enough will be famous. The book is "the
War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles"
and it's packed with fantastic insight that applies to art, music, the
entrepreneurial undertaking in any shape, form or fashion.
Steven Pressfield, author of this book is also the author of "The Legend of
Bagger Vance" and several astounding fiction books including his latest "The
Afghan Campaign" which is garnering rave reviews.
What does the War of Art have
to do with business?
Plenty!
No matter what you aspire, whether it be to be a world famous musician, artist
or entrepreneur you have to overcome your own Resistance. You have to decide to
go from amateur to professional in your aim to achieve your goal.
Steven was kind enough to speak with me about the differences between being an
amateur and a professional in your endeavor to leave your own unique mark on the
world.
If you're waiting to launch that new business, write that novel, put down the
first note of your symphony, then at least spend a bit of time reading this book
and you'll find you're well on you way to overcoming Resistance.
Nettie: In your
book, you talk about the difference between being a professional and an amateur?
Being a professional helps you overcome resistance?
Steven: You bet, one
of the focuses of the book is defining what resistance is and how you overcome
it. I put forward my ways of overcoming resistance which is what I call "turning
Pro". This is what worked for me, and it was just an attitude change, a shift
inside of the brain. So instead of being an amateur in your mind, you become a
professional and it doesn't mean you literally have to start doing your thing
for money, but it means that you have to have a completely different attitude
toward it.
Here's a story I didn't put in the book as an example of going pro.
I had a friend named Debbie who took up golf at age 35 and two or three months
later we went and played together. She showed up and she was dressed like a
touring pro, but she was still a lousy golfer. She'd only started. And I asked
her, "What's the deal with the clothes etc.?"
She said, "You know I've just decided that I'm not going to just be some
hack out there. I'm going to take this seriously and really learn this game.
That means I'm going to dress right and take lessons. I'm going to show up on
the range and keep practicing."
And sure enough, within a year she was a really great player. And all she had
really done was just adopt that professional attitude.
Nettie: So what's
the difference between an amateur and a professional?
Steven: An amateur
does something as an avocation, but a professional does it as a vocation. An
amateur is like a weekend warrior that just shows up when they feel like doing
it. But a pro shows up every day. We're all in our jobs, if we have a job, we're
all professionals at that every day and we can use that as a model.
An amateur comes up with all kinds of excuses of "why" they're not going to do
something. A professional athlete for example, knows they always have to play
hurt. They always have to play. They play with pain, something wrong with their
knee or back or whatever it might be, but they get on the field no matter what.
A pro has a real sort of lunch pail, hard hat attitude. It's raining, it doesn't
matter how cold it is, how dark it is, you get up and you go to work and that
attitude has worked for me, because it's so down to earth.
So for example, when I sit down to write, I wear work boots and I think of
myself as a carpenter on a job. I don't wear a hard hat, but it's almost as
close. To me it takes the preciousness out of it. I figure I'm just a craftsman,
I'm just the guy who shows up at your house to remodel your kitchen. That takes
a lot of pressure off. I don't feel like I'm competing with Beethoven or someone
like that, I'm just a guy going to work.
Nettie: So it seems
that it takes the ego out of it that can be so damaging to the process?
Steven: Exactly
right. The ego is another form of resistance demon. Being overly concerned with
our own self-importance and how bad we'll feel if we fail, or if we'll embarrass
ourselves, is an absolute killer to the work.
Nettie: On the ego —
can you talk about "a professional recognizes his/her limitations" or
"professional reinvents himself"? How do those work and aren't they very
difficult to do?
Steven: Dan Kennedy
has this concept for entrepreneurs — each entrepreneur has this unique ability —
that one talent that makes them great and he thinks the way to build a business
is for that entrepreneur to focus on that one ability and hire everyone else to
do the rest. There's one thing that we all know we really do well, and you
should focus on that and not try to micro-manage all the other things because
they really are forms of resistance.
Nettie: You also say
"A professional must reinvent himself?" What about reinvention?
Steven: That follows
a long career, how you continue to be a writer, an artist, an entrepreneur for
lengthy span of time. You think about Bob Dylan or the Beatles, they were
constantly reinventing themselves. A professional does this, they know that
creativity keeps flowing through. They are open to reinventing themselves to get
to the new.
Nettie: Can you talk
about your Chevy van and how you used to have dig your typewriter out from
underneath a pile of stuff?
Steven: My life used
to be incredibly chaotic. I used to live in a van down by the river. That
lifestyle was really a form of resistance. It was in a way an experience, and I
was getting out on the road, etc. but it was also a form of total resistance.
When I knew that I had to get serious, I had to create order. For me to thrive I
have to stay away from chaos. It's focusing on the work and not letting clutter
or chaos get in the path of your true work. A professional needs order, seeks
order.
Nettie:: Thank you for the interview.
So readers, go and unclutter your desk, your shelves, your workspace and watch
your entrepreneurial magic grow.
| |
|
|
Jokes:
|
|
|
Other Funny Stuff:
|
|
|
|
