Most of my friends and family members know that I am a huge fan of Oprah Winfrey. I have followed her since middle school and am just an ultimate fan of her commitment to her profession, her philanthropy, and let’s be real about it, her success. She is an amazing powerhouse! Shall I go on? Since the Oprah Winfrey Network launched in January 2011, I have stayed true to her vision by watching the various programming on any given weekday, especially on Sundays.
I enjoy the Super Soul Sunday episodes the best. This is a show that embodies everything spiritual with the words, thoughts, quotes, songs, and discussions with various spiritual leaders, dynamic thinkers, writers, and creative entrepreneurs. I take notes some times as if I am sitting in Spiritual class 101 or in the 1st row at church. I love it. She says in the opening that she wanted to create a place for people to “Wake up, ” meaning a place for people to wake up to their calling, purpose, and the will to be what they know they should be.
Well I am up and ready to share some of the pointers from yesterday’s SSS episode with Steven Pressfield, author of The War of Art. I had not heard of Mr. Pressfield until not even a month ago when Marie Forleo, another creative entrepreneur and previous guest on SSS, had him on her online TV show. I bought his Turning Pro book shortly after watching the show because it is a concept that I thought I could grasp and share easily.
In the SSS episode today, Steven Pressfield primarily discussed his book, The War of Art. He talked about a force beyond us called “Resistance” that tugs us in the opposite direction when we are trying to go higher in our purpose or calling. Examples he mentioned are getting an education, launching of entrepreneurship, aiming to help others, understanding spirituality, career change, etc. Below are a couple of quotes from this book regarding the concept of Resistance
“Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”
“Resistance is experienced as fear; the degree of fear equates to the strength of Resistance.”
–Steven Pressfield, The War of Art
One of the strategies he suggests to combating resistance is to think like a Pro rather than an amateur. This is one reason I bought his Turning Pro book and read it in a few days. It is a very simplistic thought yet it warrants a pause to think about how a pro-athlete trains for a game or a match. As we watched football yesterday, we saw the result of much training and dedication. How many of us do the same for our life’s purpose? Now when I watch any type of sport, I think about the work-outs, the long hours of training, the winning mindset, and the glory of winning. What have I done to improve my game as a professional? There were so many “aha” moments while reading his book and watching the SSS episode yesterday that I cannot capture them all.
I hope and pray that we can continue to fight off resistance and move higher and higher in knowing ourselves and our true purpose. One thought that Oprah Winfrey and Steven Pressfield left us with is a daily thought, “Did I overcome resistance today?”
Leave your comments on how you overcame any resistance today. I would love to hear them.
Plant seed.Thrive! 