Customer Reviews

Do the Work

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

To be upfront, I was disappointed by the overly mystical/magical ending to The War of Art (useless to me), but a friend assured me that Do The Work was free of that, so I gave it a look.

Pressfield may not be talking about his imaginary friends in the sky this time, but he still loads the book with bits of little wisdom that he turns into foolishness by taking them way too far, to their willfully illogical conclusions. Metaphors about babies and bathwater come to mind.

For example he declares, "Bad things happen when we employ rational thought." Er... no. Bad things happen when we let rational thought stop us from being creative, but that's not the same thing. And bad things also happen when we ignore rational thought altogether in favor of instinct.

A little bit later he cites Lindbergh, Jobs, and Churchill as "stupid" because that's the only way they would have undertaken the seemingly impossible things they did. Um... no. First, that's not stupidity, it's foolhardiness or naïvete; a writer should know the difference. Second, they weren't naïve, either. Jobs understood what he was up against when he returned to Apple; he was just arrogant enough to believe he was up to the task (which Pressfield appropriately praises) and smart enough, analytical enough, critical enough to be right (which is where Pressfield is wrong).

Pressfield sees people doing things like overthinking or ignoring their instincts or being too self-critical (which are all real problems), and then failing (which is what happens), so he apparently concludes that you should *not* think, *always* trust your instincts, *never* listen to your doubts, etc. When the real solution is Balance. Think things thru, but don't obsess about them. Listen to your instincts, but examine their assumptions. Listen to your doubts, but don't let them paralyze you. So read Pressfield's little bits of wisdom if they motivate you, but don't put a metaphorical icepick through the left hemisphere of your brain as he suggests.

Now, I'm no movie-adapted novelist, and I don't have the key to success. But one thing I do know is failure. And it's come at least as often from the don't-think-about-it mindset that Pressfield endorses in this book as from the mindset he's trying to counteract. Every time, the post mortem has indicated that I should've done a bit more of one or the other, not that reason or instinct itself was the enemy. I wasn't taking full advantage of both kinds of thinking. Which is precisely what Pressfield's book encourages.

There are some good motivating ideas to be found in this book, just like there was in War of Art. But having to wade thru mushy-headed stuff like those bits I quoted, just to find that stuff, isn't worth the trouble. Especially when you have Work To Do.

What a great book!

How many people go through life saying (or thinking) "I coulda done that.." as they manufacture excuse after excuse for races not run...articles not written...careers not pursued...or dreams unfulfilled. The road to ennui is filled with these folks; isn't there a better way to live?

Yes there is - and "Do The Work" is the roadmap to it.

It's really simple, best-selling author Steve Pressfield explains, "a child has no trouble believing the unbelieveable, nor does the genius or madman...it's only you nd I, with our big brains and tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate." Listen to your dream, he writes, and work hard to beat "resistance" and "rational thought.," that innver voice that calmly explains why you can't write an article or run a personal best on a windy day.

Get out there before you're prepared, Pressfield advises "we show huevos. Or blood heats up. Courage begets more courage. The gods, witnessing our boldness, look on in approval"

He's correct - sometimes you've just got to look the world in the eye, and say "F/U - catch me." Thanks for writing this; now I've got the moto to BELIEVE that the rest of the world is wrong and I can achieve my dream - or my dream until I reach for the next big one...

When "Do The Work" landed on my Kindle, I opened it and plowed through it in one sitting. I couldn't put it down... it was as if Pressfield had a window into my life. I have already developed a game plan to help me get un-stuck on some important projects I've been avoiding because of the Resistance.

Many books that will be lumped on the bookshelf next to this one in stores will be all about trying to get you to think differently. "Do The Work" will not make you think... it will make you stop thinking and start doing. It belongs in a category all its own.

I would, and will recommend this book to anyone who is or wants to be a creator or a difference maker.

This short book can easily be read in one sitting. Pressfield wants to motivate his reader to "do the work" (what a surprise given the title, right?). The book aims to help anyone involved in a creative endeavor whether that be art or entrepreneurship. Much of this book recycles Pressfield's ideas from his earlier book, The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles. But here, Pressfield is trying to apply his ideas more broadly.

At its best, this book is a quick pep talk to get you motivated when you hit a roadblock in your project. At its worst this book is a collection of disjointed self-help slogans. Some of Pressfield's one-liners are incredibly insightful, but others leave me rolling my eyes. Read this book with an open mind, and it will get you excited again about your own project. Don't go to this book to find any answers, because it doesn't have any. It's a pep talk, a motivational speech; it's to get you back in the game.

Now, I downloaded this book on to my kindle for free, so it was well worth the price. I see that a print copy of this book currently costs $9.92. I think that is a little steep for what you get in this book. There's lots of white space and big fonts.

I found "Do The Work" to be a quick, easy read and certainly motivational, but I think it could have been done just as well in a ten-minute presentation. It seemed that the author had to really stretch the material to create a book. While the basic concept is good, I found myself just wanting it to end. I have no doubt that Steve Pressfield is an excellent motivator, but I felt I was hearing the same advice over and over--just phrased differently. Overall, I thought it was an average book that made some good points but became a bit tedious at times.

This book is more of a workbook - a way to get you through your own work or creative block. It is fast paced and well written. I read it in about 30 minutes- but will go back to it over and over again for help with, well, life. Great read.

I don't write a lot of reviews on here - but for this book - I had to take the time to write one.

This book had a profound impact on the me. I feel like my past failures were explained. I feel like my past successes were explained. I feel like, for the first time, I truly understand why I quit nearly everything I start and why I can feel invincible in my endeavors one day and completely defeated the next - and I feel equipped to do it differently now.

It is going to sound fake but it isn't -
since reading this book:
I have stuck to my diet
I have taken on some major clients/projects at work
I have watched a LOT less TV and have determined to do what it takes to get my work done for the day
I have been able to defeat the dragon more consistently than ever before.

I am SO glad I read this book. SO glad. This book ranks up with a handful of books that I have read in my life as LIFECHANGERS. This one has been a catalyst for me. You may not have the same experience - but I honestly want to tell everyone I know - Read this book. And then read it again. I am going to have my 17yo read this book over the summer even thought it has some profanity which I am not thrilled with. If it didn't have it - I would have my 11 year old read it as well. Instead, I will just teach him the concepts within the book. They are going to help me in my business this summer and I want them to learn these principles and to master the ability to DO THE WORK.

This book is dreadful. It's all sentence fragments and platitudes and puff. Everything is overstated.

Every page has two and three different font styles. It's typeset like a ransom note.

Which is a shame, because I liked Pressfield's "War of Art", and own a couple of his other books too. But "War of Art" is a real book, in the English language, with sentences and paragraphs and ideas properly developed. It actually makes sense. This "Do the Work" is none of those things: it's a dog's breakfast; as one other reviewer said, it's like a long (bad) blog post. Very New Agey, crammed with puffy sentence fragments.

It is incoherent.

In his rush to condemn the inner critic, he does away with any editorial judgment at all, and so we get pure self indulgence.

If this kind of garbage is what Pressfield considers a victory over Resistance, then give me Resistance any day!

My husband suggested I read this book. Let me rephrase that. He downloaded it on MY Kindle and recommended I read it. Okay - he requested I read it. "It's short. You can read it fast," he said. My fast is not his fast.

I began reading and proved my comment to be one of truth. Not because I was trudging through stupidity (as one reviewer commented) or drudging through meaningless insight (as another reviewer alluded to), but because I kept stopping to take notes (which Seth Godin suggests against doing the first read through).

Rather, I found this book extremely useful and quite helpful, even if at a simple level (which is often the best presentation for teaching). It is a book on combatting the resistance that rears its ugly head whenever we start or are near to finishing something meaningful to us. Some of you have learned to combat or master this monster, but for those of you (us) who haven't - you will find this little gem a worthwhile read that will empower you to keep on keeping on and finish the race (or 'project') you began.

Pressfield uses personal examples of his own failures in writing (which is the medium used as an example and can be translated to whatever the reader struggles with in terms of his/her own project). Throughout his book, Pressfield shows us the places in our projects where we get stuck and what it is that holds us back from finishing what we've started and HOW to overcome the walls that get in our way from reading the end.

Simple - yes. Stupid - no. It's a quick read, no brainer gem filled with treasures we so often forget and daily need to be reminded of. Treasures we will want to carry in our back pocket and re-read over again, reminding ourselves they're not merely treasures
- they are truth.

I read The War of Art (Steven's previous book on this subject) last year, and I loved it. Recently I picked up the audiobook and listened it through, and I loved it the second time, too. I have the occasional small disagreement with Pressfield's worldview, but never enough to take issue with his approach -- and The War of Art has been an enormously positive influence on my mindset and my work (over and over). I was excited when I saw that Do the Work was coming down the line, and my feelings on it are almost entirely positive.

An interesting note: As of this writing, all the 1-star reviews for Do the Work are about someone having received this book without ordering it. Some may have hit the pre-order button when the ebook was free and then forgotten; some may in fact have received it as a glitch on Amazon's part. But those negative reviews still have to do with the delivery system, not the actual content of the book. This seems a bad basis for a book review. So my review is about the content. ^_^

I am surprised to have found that it's NOT necessary to read The War of Art before reading Do the Work. Pressfield periodically reflects back to The War of Art for important preceding information (which he repeats, rather than just referencing), and a new reader will enjoy this book just as much if she reads it first instead of second. (I love this, because of course it makes it easier for me to recommend the book to others.) And even as someone who'd read The War of Art originally, the repeated bits (surprisingly!) didn't annoy me; they only served to reinforce the material, which was a nice effect.

Do the Work is like a workbook -- like a seasoned veteran holding your hand through trial and tribulation. Read it from cover to cover, but then pick up any project and let it guide you from beginning to the end. Through Resistance's clutches and out the other side!

Pressfield says in the beginning that Do the Work is created in the parlance of writing, but I'm not sure that warning was needed -- he gives dozens of non-writing-related examples throughout the entire book. He may have started with writing, but from my perspective, the book has very little bias towards writing projects.

A few of my favorite parts throughout: The section on creative panic. His in-depth description of the (imagined) creative crash of Herman Melville on the way to completing Moby Dick. (This made me giggle.) And Pressfield's bit of graduation speech at the end? Quite an excellent experience!

If I have any issue with Do the Work, it's that Pressfield begins by describing the artist's territory as fundamentally adversarial. Later on, it becomes more clear why he might be doing this -- Navy SEALs are put through as much hell as possible early on, to see if they will give up the fight before actual lives are at stake. Is it possible that he is putting the reader in this position, too? Art often IS war. The down and dirty, in-the-trenches, professionals-only quality of The War of Art is why I fell in love with Pressfield a year ago. As Do the Work progressed, I found him just as willing to describe the surprising benefits and creative power of ASSISTANCE as he was to describe the fundamental malignancy and evil of RESISTANCE. So in the end, I was cool with it. It served a purpose.

There is no sugar-coating here. There's LOTS of powerful mojo. Artists are well-served by the warrior mindset, and in the end, Pressfield is creating warriors with this book.