Aug
4

… am rereading a book called Do The Work, by Steven Pressfield. 

 

There are a number of gems in this short (98 page) book.

Here’s what he says regarding a screenplay he wrote that bombed as a movie:

“My friend Tony Keppelman snapped me out of it by asking if I was going to quit. Hell, no! ‘Then be happy,’ he said. ‘You’re where you wanted to be, aren’t you? So you’re taking a few blows. That’s the price for being in the arena and not on the sidelines. Stop complaining and be grateful.'”

Here’s to being in the arena.

3 thoughts on “am rereading a book called Do The Work, by Steven Pressfield. ”

  1. Andrew Winig

    Hi Michael,

    Thanks for an inspiring quote. “Being in the arena” reminds me of my favorite Teddy Roosevelt quote:

    “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

    Here’s to being in the arena, indeed!

    1. michael Post author

      Wow, great quote Andy. If ever there were a passage written for solo professionals, that is it! Thanks for sharing it (and good to see you in the flesh last week!).

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