Depth of commitment

If someone were to ask me to identify the single primary quality that an artist or entrepreneur should cultivate in himself, I would say depth of commitment. Because depth of commitment either embodies all the other virtues or establishes the fertile field in which they can take root and grow. Depth of commitment presupposes courage, passion, recklessness, capacity for self-discipline, and the ability to have fun. It implies perseverance.

slip:4a916.

Commitment

If someone were to ask me to identify the single primary quality that an artist or entrepreneur should cultivate in himself, I would say depth of commitment. Because depth of commitment either embodies all the other virtues or establishes the fertile field in which they can take root and grow. Depth of commitment presupposes courage, passion, recklessness, capacity for self-discipline, and the ability to have fun. It implies perseverance.

slip:4a916.

Commitment doesn’t increase in a smooth fashion. One moment things are as they are, and then you catch a glimpse of how they could be. A glimpse of how they should be… how they must be! When it happens, it’s like cresting a hill after a long walk up a tedious slope. In a flash you forget the thousand gnats and brambles you endured on the climb. There’s nothing for it but to charge down the hill into the valley. This is the valley. This is the solution. This is the way the work should have been done from the beginning. You ignore the shadow which you can clearly see lies at the very bottom of the valley. You ignore the far slope certain you won’t have to climb that hill. Surely nothing better could be found beyond. Surely all the work of all those previous hills was worth the effort to reach this valley.

Right?

ɕ

Territorial

It has to be territorial, not hierarchical. Meaning real success comes from the inside out, not the outside in. Real success is the process, not the product. It’s what we would do if there were nobody else in the world, yet it depends in the end on everyone else in the world. The essential expression of our art is that of a gift. We draw from that which is most ourselves–and then offer that essence to our fellow travelers on this planet, to help them, entertain them, show them they’re not alone … asking nothing in return (well, maybe enough to pay the rent, we hope.)

slip:4a489.

Real satisfaction

Real work and real satisfaction come from the opposite of what the web provides. They come from going deep into something—the book you’re writing, the album, the movie—and staying there for a long, long time.

slip:4a322.

Territorial, not hierarchical

It has to be territorial, not hierarchical. Meaning real success comes from the inside out, not the outside in. Real success is the process, not the product. It’s what we would do if there were nobody else in the world, yet it depends in the end on everyone else in the world. The essential expression of our art is that of a gift. We draw from that which is most ourselves–and then offer that essence to our fellow travelers on this planet, to help them, entertain them, show them they’re not alone … asking nothing in return (well, maybe enough to pay the rent, we hope.)

slip:4a489.

This is a classic that has nothing at all to do specifically with writing. If you are involved in creating anything, you will find this is a great article with a long list of elements of success. (“Elements of Success” is his title.) After you read this, you should run—not walk—and get a copy of his book War of Art; you can thank me later.

Anyway.

The paragraph above really spoke to me. The idea that “success is the process” is something I keep losing hold of. Like a swimmer who keeps forgetting that kicking effectively and continuously is a necessary part of staying afloat and getting there, I keep forgetting that the process is success and I begin to struggle.

ɕ

"Of course, you and I can be addicted to any number of things - to love, to sex, to worship of our children or our parents, to dominance, to submission. We can even be addicted to ourselves (see Charlie Sheen, Donald Trump). Such individuals can be absolutely fascinating at the same time as they're boring as hell."

#StevenPressfield, Going Pro, 2012

#books #NonFiction #addiction

"When we're living as amateurs, we're running away from our calling — meaning our work, our destiny, the obligation to become our truest and highest selves." - Steven Pressfield

"アマチュアのままでいると、君は自分の天職から遠ざかってしまう。それは、君の仕事、君の運命、最高の自分になる責任から逃げているということだ。" - スティーヴン・プレスフィールド

#storytellingforbusiness
#businessstorytelling
#japanstorytelling
#storytellingjapan
#brandstorytelling
#storytellingcommunityjapan
#storytellingforbusinessjapan
#ストーリーテリング
#stevenpressfield
#スティーヴンプレスフィールド

“The hero’s journey can take place on a battlefield or in a cubicle. We can live it out amid public clamor or in the soundless vault between our ears. The demons we are dueling are always the same. They are our own fears of becoming who we are. No one who has ever lived—or ever will—has a journey like ours. And yet our journey is universal. It is every woman’s and every man’s.” - Steven Pressfield

#storytellingforbusiness
#businessstorytelling
#stevenpressfield
#スティーヴンプレスフィールド

“Discipline yourself to boil down your story/new business/philanthropic enterprise to a single page.”
-Steven Pressfield

"あなたのストーリーや新しいビジネスを、一枚の紙にまとめる力を身につけよう。余計なものを削ぎ落とし、本質だけを残そう。"
-スティーヴンプレスフィールド

#storytellingforbusiness
#businessstorytelling
#japanstorytelling
#storytellingjapan
#brandstorytelling
#storytellingcommunityjapan
#storytellingforbusinessjapan
#ストーリーテリング
#ビジネスストーリーテリング 　
#ブランドストーリーテリング
#stevenpressfield
#スティーヴンプレスフィールド