10 Motivating Steven Pressfield Quotes for Getting Your Work Done

Written by Justin Mitchell

Steven Pressfield (born in 1943) is an impactful American writer. He has a brash, in-your-face writing style that will leave you feeling called out, while at the same time, motivating you to keep pushing forward toward excellence. You may have read or heard about his book, "The War of Art", where he delves into the internal struggles of creatives and how you can beat them. Steven seeks to provide a warrior code for creatives, so they can be more effective and pursue their greatest ambitions regardless of how they feel.

Here are 10 motivating Steven Pressfield quotes that will help you get your work done!


"The warrior and the artist live by the same code of necessity, which dictates that the battle must be fought anew every day." - Steven Pressfield


No matter what you do, if it is difficult, each day will present you with new challenges that you may succumb to. The disciplined warrior  is on the battlefield every day. He's prepared, both physically and mentally, to leave everything on the field. His life is on the line every day, and he has no room for hesitation and fear.

Like a warrior, the artist or creative person also faces significant challenges in the pursuit of bringing their creative ambitions to life. It requires discipline and the ability to push forward when things are at their most difficult to succeed in any creative endeavor.
 
There will be days where you have writer's block, or fear of failure, or that insecure nagging voice in your head that says that people like you aren't supposed to create things. Or, it may manifest as being tired, as not feeling up to doing your work, or a loss of interest. The body and mind has many ways of throwing you off your proverbial horse. 
Don't fall off of your horse!


"What does Resistance feel like? First, unhappiness. We're bored, we're restless. We can't get no satisfaction. There's guilt but we can't put our finger on the source. We want to go back to bed; we want to get up and party. We feel unloved and unlovable. We're disgusted. We hate our lives. We hate ourselves." - Steven Pressfield


Resistance can manifest in many ways. The end result is always the same, if it wins, it stops us from doing our work. It convinces us to scroll on social media, to hit the snooze button, to not finish writing a book, or not pursue a goal. 

There are an infinite amount of strategies your body and mind can deploy to sabotage your creative efforts. Doubt, fear, uncertainty and insecurity are just a few of the psychological weapons in our mind's arsenal. 

The key is to act in spite of these challenges. The professional does not let his feelings or external circumstances unman him. He has a goal, and he works until it is completed. This is the way of the true artist, the creative, the entrepreneur, and any other person that's working hard to create something new.


"The paradox seems to be, as Socrates demonstrated long ago, that the truly free individual is free only to the extent of his own self-mastery. While those who will not govern themselves are condemned to find masters to govern over them."- Steven Pressfield


What stands between people and their goals is often something quite simple: the mastery of the self. Being in control of your own actions and your own mind is incredibly important when it comes to producing anything of value. Producing large amounts of value entails some level of suffering. 

The man that has mastered himself is able to push forward and complete his goals in the presence of criticism, doubt, fear, unhappiness and procrastination. These are only words to him. They do not control him. They do not stop him. He chooses his actions, rather than being reactive.

The man who has control over himself, will by extension have great control over his creative endeavors.


"The more Resistance you experience, the more important your unmanifested art/project/enterprise is to you - and the more gratification you will feel when you finally do it." - Steven Pressfield


Things that are most important to us do not always present themselves as such. Sometimes it emerges as an avoidance, or an emotionally charged reaction to pursuing a goal. There are countless reasons you may be avoiding your project or work.

It's critical to not attribute this resistance to a confirmation of why you should not do it to begin with. Your avoidance is not necessarily a sign that you should not pursue a project or goal. It's sometimes the biggest psychological green light you can have.

It's a sign that whatever you are avoiding, is of critical importance to your life's purpose.


"Grandiose fantasies are a symptom of Resistance. They're the sign of an amateur. The professional has learned that success, like happiness, comes as a by-product of work."- Steven Pressfield


It's easy to come up with pipe dreams in our minds. Dreaming is easy, and anyone can do it. It's not dreams that create realities though, it's raw action. The amateur will spin up a large web of illusions about his enterprise, but he will not put in the necessary work to bring them to fruition. 

The pursuit itself  is not sexy. It's waking up early and doing your work. Everyone wants a quick fix or a simple solution to become successful or get rich. Here's a hint: there is none. Just do your work instead of focusing on the envisioned outcome.

The paradox is that your dreams are much more likely to become a reality once you stop thinking, and start doing.


"The professional concentrates on the work and allows rewards to come or not come, whatever they like." - Steven Pressfield


It's all too easy to have our emotions wrapped up in our creative endeavors. Sometimes we have our sense of pride and accomplishment wrapped up into whether or not our work is well received. The truth is, the more we worry about these things, the more it will show in our work. If we focus on the potential rewards of our work more than the work itself, we're not living in the moment. This causes the quality of our work to suffer.

Working in a flow-state is incredibly powerful, and it's where you will find your best quality work accomplished. Worry about what's in your control, not what may or may not happen as a result of doing your work. 


"An amateur lets the negative opinion of others unman him. He takes external criticism to heart, allowing it to trump his own belief in himself and his work." - Steven Pressfield


Anyone who has reached a certain level of success has likewise probably experienced much negative feedback. It's normal, and it's a sign that you're doing something right. People don't comment on things they don't care about.

One must not let the opinions of others dictate how he feels about himself, or his work. Humans will be critical, and there are a multitude of reasons they may be critical. Maybe it means you have room for improvement, or maybe they were just having a bad day. This is up to you to decipher.

The point is that you should not let the opinions of others sway your own opinion of your work. The truth is, no piece of art, no book, no project, or any other product of creativity is meant for everyone. Sometimes listening to feedback and integrating it into your work is necessary, but other times people just want you to be more like them. Don't fall for this trap.

"There's no mystery to turning pro. It's a decision brought about by an act of will. We make up our minds to view ourselves as pros and we do it. Simple as that." - Steven Pressfield


The amateur spends all of his time watching YouTube videos about becoming a pro in his field of choice. The professional just decides to and makes it happen. 

It's a simple choice standing between what you are now, and what you wish to become. After you decide, then it's just a matter of showing up and doing the work each day. 

You may feel resistance, you may be tempted to procrastinate, but you don't have to. These are choices and merely a product of your own feelings trying to sway you from your goals. 
Do the work. That's all that matters.


"We unplug ourselves from the grid by recognizing that we will never cure our restlessness by contributing our disposable income to the bottom line of Bullshit, Inc., but only by doing our work." - Steven Pressfield


These days, there's a course or YouTube video for anything. People all over the world want your attention, and the most important things of all, your time and focus. 

While it's not bad to watch or read content in your field of choice, be sure you aren't doing so to procrastinate. Self-help gurus who are selling you a lifestyle are quick to recommend that you buy their course, rather than just telling you to suck it up and do your work.

Let's be honest, you're reading this article right now. Should you be doing your work instead? If so, you know what you need to do. 


"Attention Deficit Disorder, Seasonal Affect Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder. These aren't diseases, they're marketing ploys. Doctors didn't discover them, copywriters did. Marketing departments did. Drug companies did. Depression and anxiety may be real. But they can also be Resistance." - Steven Pressfield


While mental health problems do exist, and they can be debilitating, it's important to consider the root causes. Doctors are quick to prescribe medications to things that they themselves do not even understand. It's just how our broken health care system works. It doesn't prioritize real solutions, only prescriptions and diagnosis.

Sometimes we're unhappy, anxious or depressed because we've not yet found our calling in life. We've not found the thing that makes us burn with desire. We've not found what lights our torch. A doctor will never tell you this. It's something that only you can determine. And it's something that only you can solve.

Rather than contributing to the bottom-line of a soulless medical company, invest in your own health. Find your true purpose and work toward it, and you may find that all of your ailments will fall away.

Steven Pressfield is a gem for creative people. He's a voice of hash accountability and responsibility in a world that's fixed on selling us romanticized lifestyles and easy solutions. Doing the work isn't sexy, but the result of staying true to your purpose IS.