"I Want To, But I Can't Find the Time..."

I recommend The War of Art, by Steven Pressfield, to all my clients who want to authorize their creative life or become an entrepreneur. People who are striving to bust out of old ruts, who want to stop making excuses, to resist their inner saboteur, or throw down that old saw, “I never seem to find the time to do what I want to do” are Pressfield’s, (a fairly famous novelist), target audience.

“Julia Cameron’s Artist Way meets Sunzi’s Art of War is how some people think of this book because it speaks authoritatively and strategically to procrastinators who can’t seem to get off the couch of constant complaining which sounds something like this, “I woulda, shoulda, coulda been a contender!”

Because Pressfield’s book and I both reach out to serve the same group of people: those who want to take their second-half-of-life and make it reflect the transformation they’re going through — from cocooning to creating something authentic to share with the world — this book has become mandatory reading and re-reading.

Unlike Sunzi, however, The War of Art and Artist’s Way have reference to a divine entity of some kind that can be appealed to throughout the bumpy process of overcoming self-limiting beliefs and doubt.

Sunzi’s Art of War, considered to be a Daoist text compiled more than 2,000 years ago by a mysterious warrior-philosopher schooled in the Chinese Classics, renders conflict as inevitable and inspires readers to deal with it by cultivating a lifestyle of multifaceted discipline. There is no “out there” or “up there” called upon as if there were some divine “object” that was separate from a mortal “subject” called “human being.”

All of us are believed to have the innate capacity to work with mystery, practice skillfulness, honor ourselves and each other, and experience a natural inner-wisdom that helps us “harmonize-with-what-is-so” — which leads to victory without fail.

The key difference in the Chinese Classics, (and I’m not referring to folk practices here), is that there is no external power, (Divinity), to appeal to in Daoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism (the three great traditions of Classical China).

Does this mean these 20th-century, popular books will not have traction with agnostics/atheists or non-Westerners? Not necessarily so. Whether you’re trying to practice painting, singing, writing, sculpting, exercising, or starting a business or a non-profit, we all enjoy a reliable ally to hold us responsible to making creative choices in a daily way.

Pressfield gives readers of all stripes smart questions and savvy exercises to interrogate themselves to a point but, more often, to risk getting into action. No one gets to Carnegie Hall any other way.

The only aspect of this book that I found off-putting was the Patton (U.S. General) - like military tone in the last third of the book (a tone not at all like Sunzi’s who sees the most skillful victory to be a murderless one). Nevertheless, setting down the macho tone is easy if one wants the best Pressfield has to offer: a sense of humor, a relentless busting of all your favorite reasons to say, “I can’t but I want to,” and a boat load of tricks and techniques, conveyed through a very personal journal, as to how he finally stepped into the river and joined the flow of collective creativity.

Note: My favorite Pressfield inspiration of all, that also reflects his tone, is this one: “Hitler wanted to be an artist. Apparently it was easier to start World War II than stare at a blank canvas.”

What helps you overcome procrastination? Are there any books that have helped you take creative action or do they keep you stuck in reflection mode — my favorite way of being?