Today I would like to share with you tips from Stephen Pressfield's book "Do the work". Despite the fact that the book is written rather for people of very creative professions, primarily writers, the tips are suitable for any more or less large project. I must say right away that I consider this book to be the best book on the topic of kicking in my own ass so far.
Despite the fact that the book is quite short, it contains so many interesting thoughts that the Kindle will show you that almost every paragraph is quoted there. But I will highlight two aspects related to the execution of projects: the methodology of work and its rhythm.
By rhythm here I mean everything related to how we postpone work for later because we are not ready yet, how we collect materials for an infinite time and how long we do not show our creation in public.
The methodology covers how we get stuck in the middle, beginning or end and do not find the strength to continue or finish, because we ourselves begin to resist actions when the initial enthusiasm passes.
The first thing I will repeat after Stephen: start before you are ready. Don't collect all the necessary materials, just collect something and start.
If you give yourself a chance, you will resist the project the more important and interesting it seemed to you at the beginning. Start before you have a chance to understand the complexity of the idea and the depth of your worthlessness.
Second – release your brainchild into the light immediately, as soon as it is ready, do not let doubts stop you. As soon as you have finished and immediately – send. If you stop, you'll find plenty of reasons not to. There is always something that can be done better. There is always a fear of criticism. So stop where you were going and boldly show your clumsy creation.
And now about the methodology. Stephen accurately noticed that any work can be divided into three parts: the beginning, the middle (development) and the end. It's that simple. Write a plan of your work, and whatever the project is, it should fit on the A4 page. The upper third is the beginning, the middle one is the development, the lower one is the final.
If you are having trouble getting started, write down how it will end. Let it be one sentence, one line of code, one drawing. Then make the same step so that it leads from or to this point. Then another one. In order to do everything well, it is enough to have three dots with bright active content, and then fill the holes between them. It is necessary to fill in repeating the procedure over and over again. Exactly as many times as necessary, but no more. You have to fill the obvious holes, and not clog your creation with garbage. Minimalism and simplicity are chic.
So: start right away, don't let go of the idea and try to do as much as possible before the resistance wakes up. There are only three parts, it's simple, and if one doesn't go — take a step into the other. When there are at least two parts —just fill in the blanks until everything is connected.
Everything is very simple. Do the work!
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