365 Days With Self-Discipline: 365 Life-Altering Thoughts on Self-Control, Mental Resilience, and Success

Day 304: On the Unsexy Reality of Work

How much time can you spare each day? For that interval, close the

door and — short of a family emergency or the outbreak of World War III —

don’t let ANYBODY in. Keep working. Keep working. Keep working.

—Steven Pressfield

 

304

Some people believe that super-productive individuals have some kind

of a secret or a natural inborn talent that allows them to produce so much

output. However, the reality is unsexy: all they do is put themselves in front

of  their  computers  (or  whatever  else  they  need  to  do  their  job),  close  the

door, and work.

There are no miraculous solutions, no pills, frameworks, or blueprints

that the most productive people have to be able to produce more than you

do.  When  reading  his  masterpieces,  it’s  difficult  to  imagine  Stephen  King

simply sitting in his room and tapping away on his keyboard, but that’s how

his day-to-day life looks.

If  you’re  unsure  whether  you’re  doing  it  “right”  because  there’s

nothing  attractive  nor  particularly  outstanding  in  how  you  perform  your

daily  work,  stop  worrying;  everyone  else  —  including  world-class

performers — works in the exact same way. The only difference between

you  and  them  is  that  they  have  spent  a  bit  more  time  than  you  have,

working on their craft, but there’s a level playing field here that requires the

same  resources  from  every  participant:  self-discipline,  persistence,  and  an

unbreakable resolve.

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